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THE  LATE  MRS  NULL 


THE  LATE  MRS  NULL 


BY 

FRANK   R.  STOCKTON 

AUTHOR  OF  "RUDDER  GRANGE,"  "THE  LADY  OR  T;:S  TIGER?"  ETC 


NEW   YORK 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1886 


COPYRIGHT,  iSS6, 
BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


Press  of  J.   J-    Little  &  Co. 
Astor  Place,  New  York. 


THE   LATE  MRS   NULL- 


CHAPTER  i. 

THERE  was  a  wide  entrance  gate  to  the  old  family 
mansion  of  Midbranch,  but  it  was  never  opened  to 
admit  the  family  or  visitors ;  although  occasionally 
a  load  of  wood,  drawn  by  two  horses  and  two  mules, 
came  between  its  tall  chestnut  posts,  and  was  taken 
by  a  roundabout  way  among  the  trees  to  a  spot  at 
the  back  of  the  house,  where  the  chips  of  several 
generations  of  sturdy  wood-choppers  had  formed  a 
ligneous  soil  deeper  than  the  arable  surface  of  any 
portio'n  of  the  nine  hundred  and  fifty  acres  which 
formed  the  farm  of  Midbranch.  This  seldom-opened 
gate  was  in  a  corner  of  the  lawn,  and  the  driving  of 
carriages,  or  the  riding  of  horses  through  it  to  the 
porch  at  the  front  of  the  house  would  have  been  the 
ruin  of  the  short,  thick  grass  which  had  covered  that 
lawn,  it  was  generally  believed,  ever  since  Virginia 
became  a  State. 

But  there  had  to  be  some  way  for  people  who 
came  in  carriages  or  on  horseback  to  get  into  the 
house,  and  therefore  the  fence  at  the  bottom  of 

269281 


Mrs 


the  lawn,  at  a  point  directly  in  front  of  the  porch, 
was  crossed  by  a  set  of  broad  wooden  steps,  five  out 
side  and  five  inside,  with  a  platform  at  the  top. 
These  stairs  were  wide  enough  to  accommodate  eight 
people  abreast  ;  so  that  if  a  large  carriage  load  of 
visitors  arrived,  none  of  them  need  delay  in  crossing 
the  fence.  At  the  outside  of  the  steps  ran  the 
narrow  road  which  entered  the  plantation  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  away,  and  passed  around  the  lawn  and  the 
garden  to  the  barns  and  stables  at  the  back. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  road,  undivided  from  it 
by  hedge  or  fence,  stretched,  like  a  sea  gently  moved 
by  a  groundswell,  a  vast  field,  sometimes  planted  in 
tobacco,  and  sometimes  in  wheat.  In  the  midst  of 
this  field  stood  a  tall  persimmon  tree  which  yearly 
dropped  its  half-candied  fruit  upon  the  first  light 
snow  of  the  winter.  It  is  true  that  persimmons, 
quite  fit  to  eat,  were  to  be  found  on  this  tree  at  an 
earlier  period  than  this,  but  such  fruit  was  never 
noticed  by  the  people  in  those  parts,  who  would  not 
rudely  wrench  from  Jack  Frost  his  one  little  claim 
to  rivalry  with  the  sun  as  a  fruit-ripener.  To  the 
right  of  the  field  was  a  wide  extent  of  pasture  land, 
running  down  to  a  small  stream,  or  "  branch,"  which, 
flowing  between  two  other  streams  of  the  same  kind 
a  mile  or  two  on  either  side  of  it,  had  given  its  name 
to  the  place.  In  front,  to  the  left,  lay  a  great  forest 
of  chestnut,  oak,  sassafras,  and  sweet  gum,  with  here 
and  there  a  clump  of  tall  pines,  standing  up  straight 
and  stiff  with  an  air  of  Puritanic  condemnation  of 
the  changing  fashions  of  the  foliage  about  them. 


The  Late  Mrs  Nidi.  3 

-  On  one  side  of  the  platform  of  the  broad  stile, 
which  has  been  mentioned,  sat  one  summer  after 
noon,  the  lady  of  the  house.  She  was  a  young  woman, 
and  although  her  face  was  a  good  deal  shadowed  by 
her  far-spreading  hat,  it  was  easy  to  perceive  that 
she  was  a  handsome  one.  She  was  the  niece  of  Mr 
Robert  Brandon,  the  elderly  bachelor  who  owned 
Midbranch;  and  her  mother,  long  since  dead,  had 
called  her  Roberta,  which  was  as  near  as  she  could 
come  to  the  name  of  her  only  brother. 

Miss  Roberta's  father  was  a  man  whose  mind  and 
time  were  entirely  given  up  to  railroads ;  and  al 
though  he  nominally  lived  in  New  York,  he  was,  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  year,  engaged  in  endeavors  to 
forward  his  interests  somewhere  west  of  the  Missis 
sippi.  Two  or  three  months  of  the  winter  were 
generally  spent  in  his  city  home.  At  these  times  he 
had  his  daughter  with  him,  but  the  rest  of  the  year 
she  lived  with  her  uncle,  whose  household  she  di 
rected  with  much  good  will  and  judgment.  The  old 
gentleman  did  not  keep  her  all  the  summer  at  Mid- 
branch.  He  knew  what  was  necessary  for  a  young 
lady  who  had  been  educated  in  Germany  and  Swit 
zerland,  and  who  had  afterwards  made  a  very  favor 
able  impression  in  Paris  and  London ;  and  so,  during 
the  hot  weather,  he  took  her  with  him  to  one  of 
the  fashionable  Southern  resorts,  where  they  always 
stayed  exactly  six  weeks. 

The  gentleman  who  was  sitting  on  the  other  side 
of  the  platform,  with  his  face  turned  towards  her, 
had  known  Miss  Roberta  for  a  year  or  more,  having 


4  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

met  her  at  the  North,  and  also  in  the  Virginia 
mountains ;  and  being  now  on  a  visit  to  the  Green 
Sulphur  Springs,  about  four  miles  from  Midbranch, 
he  rode  over  to  see  her  nearly  every  day.  There 
was  nothing  surprising  in  this,  because  the  Green 
Sulphur,  once  a  much  frequented  resort,  had  seen 
great  changes,  and  now,  although  the  end  of  the 
regular  season  had  not  arrived,  it  had  Mr  Lawrence 
Croft  for  its  only  guest.  There  was  a  spacious 
hotel  there  ;  there  was  a  village  of  cottages  of  vary 
ing  sizes ;  there  were  buildings  for  servants  and 
managers ;  there  was  a  ten-pin  alley  and  a  quoit 
ground  ;  there  were  arbors  and  swings ;  and  a  square 
hole  in  a  stone  slab,  through  which  a  little  pool  of 
greenish  water  could  be  seen,  with  a  tin  cup,  some 
what  rusty,  lying  by  it.  But  all  was  quiet  and  de 
serted,  except  one  cottage,  in  which  the  man  lived 
who  had  charge  of  the  place,  and  where  Mr  Croft 
boarded.  It  was  very  pleasant  for  him  to  ride  over 
to  Midbranch  and  take  a  walk  with  Miss  Roberta ; 
and  this  was  what  they  had  been  doing  to-day. 

Horseback  rides  had  been  suggested,  but  Mr 
Brandon  objected  to  these.  He  knew  Mr  Croft  to 
be  a  young  man  of  good  family  and  very  comfort 
able  fortune,  and  he  liked  him  very  much  when  he 
had  him  there  to  dinner,  but  he  did  not  wish  his 
niece  to  go  galloping  around  the  country  with  him. 
To  quiet  walks  in  the  woods,  and  through  the 
meadows,  he  could,  of  course,  have  no  objection.  A 
good  many  of  Mr  Brandon's  principles,  like  certain 
of  his  books,  were  kept  upon  a  top  shelf,  but  Miss 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  5 

Roberta  always  liked  to  humor  the  few  which 
the  old  gentleman  was  wont  to  have  within  easy 
reach. 

This  afternoon  they  had  rambled  through  the 
woods,  where  the  hard,  smooth  road  wound  pictur 
esquely  through  the  places  in  which  it  had  been 
easiest  to  make  a  road,  and  where  the  great  trunks 
of  the  trees  were  partly  covered  by  clinging  vines, 
which  Miss  Roberta  knew  to  be  either  Virginia 
creeper  or  poison  oak,  although  she  did  not  remem 
ber  which  of  these  had  clusters  of  five  leaves,  and 
which  of  three. 

The  horse  on  which  Mr  Croft  had  ridden  over 
from  the  Springs  was  tied  to  a  fence  near  by,  and  he 
now  seemed  to  indicate  by  his  restless  movements 
that  it  was  quite  time  for  the  gentleman  to  go  home  ; 
but  with  this  opinion  Mr  Croft  decidedly  differed. 
He  had  had  a  long  walk  with  the  lady  and  plenty  of 
opportunities  to  say  anything  that  he  might  choose, 
but  still  there  was  something  very  important  which 
had  not  been  said,  and  which  Mr  Croft  very  much 
wished  to  say  before  he  left  Miss  Roberta  that  after 
noon.  His  only  reason  for  hesitation  was  the  fact 
that  he  did  not  know  what  he  wished  to  say. 

He  was  a  man  who  always  kept  a  lookout  on 
the  bows  of  his  daily  action  ;  in  storm  or  in  calm,  in 
fog  or  in  bright  sunshine  that  lookout  must  be  at 
his  post ;  and  upon  his  reports  it  depended  whether 
Mr  Croft  set  more  sail,  put  on  more  steam,  reversed 
his  engine,  or  anchored  his  vessel.  A  report  from 
this  lookout  was  what  he  hoped  to  elicit  by  the  re- 


6  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

mark  which  he  wished  to  make.  He  desired  greatly 
to  know  whether  Miss  Roberta  March  looked  upon 
him  in  the  light  of  a  lover,  or  in  that  of  an  intimate 
acquaintance,  whose  present  intimacy  depended  a 
good  deal  upon  the  propinquity  of  Midbranch  and 
the  Green  Sulphur  Springs.  He  had  endeavored  to 
produce  upon  her  mind  the  latter  impression.  If  he 
ever  wished  her  to  regard  him  as  a  lover  he  could 
do  this  in  the  easiest  and  most  straightforward  way, 
but  the  other  procedure  was  much  more  difficult, 
and  he  was  not  certain  that  he  had  succeeded  in  it. 
How  to  find  out  in  what  light  she  viewed  him  with 
out  allowing  the  lady  to  perceive  his  purpose  was  a 
very  delicate  operation. 

"  I  wish,"  said  Miss  Roberta,  poking  with  the  end 
of  her  parasol  at  some  half-withered  wild  flowers 
which  lay  on  the  steps  beneath  her,  "  that  you  would 
change  your  mind,  and  take  supper  with  us." 

Mr  Croft's  mind  was  very  busy  in  endeavoring  to 
think  of  some  casual  remark,  some  observation  re 
garding  man,  nature,  or  society,  or  even  an  anecdote 
or  historical  incident,  which,  if  brought  into  the 
conversation,  might  produce  upon  the  lady's  coun 
tenance  some  shade  of  expression,  or  some  variation 
in  her  tone  or  words  which  would  give  him  the  in 
formation  he  sought  for.  But  what  he  said  was: 
"Are  they  really  suppers  that  you  have,  or  are  they 
only  teas  ?  " 

"  Now  I  know,"  said  the  lady,  "  why  you  have 
sometimes  taken  dinner  with  us,  but  never  supper. 
You  were  afraid  that  it  would  be  a  tea." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  7 

Lawrence  Croft  was  thinking  that  if  this  girl 
believed  that  he  was  in  love  with  her,  it  would  make 
a  great  deal  of  difference  in  his  present  course  of 
action.  If  such  were  the  case,  he  ought  not  to 
come  here  so  often,  or,  in  fact,  he  ought  not  to  come 
at  all,  until  he  had  decided  for  himself  what  he 
was  going  to  do.  But  what  could  he  say  that  would 
cause  her,  for  the  briefest  moment,  to  unveil  her 
idea  of  himself.  "  I  never  could  endure,"  he  said, 
"  those  meals  which  consist  of  thin  shavings  of  bread 
with  thick  plasters  of  butter,  aided  and  abetted  by 
sweet  cakes,  preserves,  and  tea." 

"  You  should  have  reserved  those  remarks,"  she 
said, "  until  you  had  found  out  what  sort  of  evening 
meal  we  have." 

He  could  certainly  say  something,  he  thought. 
Perhaps  it  might  be  some  little  fanciful  story  which 
would  call  up  in  her  mind,  without  his  appearing  to 
intend  it,  some  thought  of  his  relationship  to  her  as 
a  lover — that  is,  if  she  had  ever  had  such  a  notion. 
If  this  could  be  done,  her  face  would  betray  the  fact. 
But,  not  being  ready  to  make  such  a  remark,  he 
said :  "  I  beg  your  pardon,  but  do  you  really  have 
suppers  in  the  English  fashion  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  answered  Miss  Roberta,  "  we  don't 
have  a  great  cold  joint,  with  old  cheese,  and  pitchers 
of  brown  stout  and  ale,  but  neither  do  we  content 
ourselves  with  thin  bread  and  butter,  and  preserves. 
We  have  coffee  as  well  as  tea,  hot  rolls,  fleecy  and 
light,  hot  batter  bread  made  of  our  finest  corn  meal, 
hot  biscuits  and  stewed  fruit,  with  plenty  of  sweet 


8  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

milk  and  buttermilk;  and,  if  anybody  wants  it,  he 
can  always  have  a  slice  of  cold  ham." 

"If  I  could  only  feel  sure,"  thought  Mr  Croft, 
"  that  she  looked  upon  me  merely  as  an  acquaintance, 
I  would  cease  to  trouble  my  mind  on  this  subject, 
and  let  everything  go  on  as  before.  But  I  am  not 
sure,  and  I  would  rather  not  come  here  again  until 
I  am."  "  And  at  what  hour,"  he  asked,  "do  you 
partake  of  a  meal  like  that  ?  " 

"  In  summer  time,"  said  Miss  Roberta,  "  we  have 
supper  when  it  is  dark  enough  to  light  the  lamps. 
My  uncle  dislikes  very  much  to  be  deprived,  by  the 
advent  of  a  meal,  of  the  out-door  enjoyment  of  a 
late  afternoon,  or,  as  we  call  it  down  here,  the  eve 
ning." 

"  It  would  be  easy  enough,"  thought  Mr  Croft, 
"  for  me  to  say  something  about  my  being  suddenly 
obliged  to  go  away,  and  then  notice  its  effect  upon 
her.  But,  apart  from  the  fact  that  I  would  not  do 
anything  so  vulgar  and  commonplace,  it  would  not 
advantage  me  in  the  slightest  degree.  She  would 
see  through  the  flimsiness  of  my  purpose,  and,  no 
matter  how  she  looked  upon  me,  would  show  nothing 
but  a  well-bred  regret  that  I  should  be  obliged  to  go 
away  at  such  a  pleasant  season."  "  I  think  the  hour 
for  your  supper,"  said  he,  "  is  a  very  suitable  one, 
but  I  am  not  sure  that  such  a  variety  of  hot  bread 
would  agree  with  me." 

"  Did  you  ever  see  more  healthy-looking  ladies 
and  gentlemen  than  you  find  in  Virginia?  "  asked 
Miss  March. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  9 

"  It  is  not  that  I  want  to  know  if  she  looks  favor 
ably  upon  me,"  said  Lawrence  Croft  to  himself,  "  for 
when  I  wish  to  discover  that,  I  shall  simply  ask  her. 
What  I  wish  now  to  know  is  whether,  or  not,  she 
considers  me  at  all  as  a  lover.  There  surely  must 
be  something  I  can  say  which  will  give  me  a  clew." 
u  The  Virginians,  as  a  rule,"  he  replied,  "  are  cer 
tainly  a  very  well-grown  and  vigorous  race." 

"  In  spite  of  the  hot  bread,"  she  said  with  a 
smile. 

Just  then  Mr  Croft  believed  himself  struck  by  a 
happy  thought.  "  You  are  not  prepared,  I  suppose, 
to  say,  in  consequence  of  it ;  and  that  recalls  the 
fact  that  so  much  in  this  world  happens  in  spite  of 
things,  instead  of  in  consequence  of  them." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  exactly  understand,"  said 
Miss  Roberta. 

"  Well,  for  instance,"  said  Mr  Croft,  "  take  the 
case  of  marriage.  Don't  you  think  that  a  man  is 
more  apt  to  marry  in  spite  of  his  belief  that  he 
would  be  much  better  off  as  a  bachelor,  than  in  con 
sequence  of  a  conviction  that  a  Benedict's  life  would 
suit  him  better?  " 

"  That,"  said  she,  "  depends  a  good  deal  on  the 
woman." 

As  she  said  this  Lawrence  glanced  quickly  at  her 
to  observe  the  expression  of  her  countenance.  The 
countenance  plainly  indicated  that  its  owner  had 
suddenly  been  made  aware  that  the  afternoon  was 
slipping  away,  and  that  she  had  forgotten  certain 
household  duties  that  devolved  upon  her. 


io  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  Here  comes  Peggy,"  she  said,  "  and  I  must  go 
into  the  house  and  give  out  supper.  Don't  you 
now  think  it  would  be  well  for  you  to  follow  our 
discussion  of  a  Virginia  supper  by  eating  one?  " 

At  this  moment,  there  arrived  at  the  bottom  of 
the  inside  steps,  a  small  girl,  very  black,  very  sol 
emn,  and  very  erect,  with  her  hands  folded  in  front 
of  her  very  straight  up-and-down  calico  frock,  her 
features  expressive  of  a  wooden  stolidity  which  noth- 
but  a  hammer  or  chisel  could  alter,  and  with  large 
eyes  fixed  upon  a  far-away,  which,  apparently,  had 
disappeared,  leaving  the  eyes  in  a  condition  of  idle 
out-go. 

"  Miss  Rob,"  said  this  wooden  Peggy,  "  Aun' 
Judy  says  it's  more'n  time  to  come  housekeep." 

"  Which  means,"  said  Miss  Roberta,  rising,  "  that 
I  must  go  and  get  my  key  basket,  and  descend  into 
the  store-room.  Won't  you  come  in  ?  We  shall  find 
uncle  on  the  back  porch." 

Mr  Croft  declined  with  thanks,  and  took  his  leave, 
and  the  lady  walked  across  the  smooth  grass  to  the 
house,  followed  by  the  rigid  Peggy. 

The  young  man  approached  his  impatient  horse, 
and,  not  without  some  difficulty,  got  himself 
mounted.  He  had  not  that  facility  of  sympathetic 
ally  combining  his  own  will  and  that  of  his  horse 
which  comes  to  men  who  from  their  early  boyhood 
are  wont  to  consider  horses  as  objects  quite  as 
necessary  to  locomotion  as  shoes  and  stockings. 
But  Lawrence  Croft  was  a  fair  graduate  of  a  riding 
school,  and  he  went  away  in  very  good  style  to  his 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  n 

cottage  at  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs.  "  I  believe," 
he  said  to  himself,  as  he  rode  through  the  woods, 
"that  Miss  March  expects  no  more  of  me  than  she 
would  expect  of  any  very  intimate  friend.  I  shall 
feel  perfectly  free,  therefore,  to  continue  my  investi 
gations  regarding  two  points :  First,  is  she  worth 
having  ?  and :  Second,  will  she  have  me  ?  And  I 
must  be  very  careful  not  to  get  the  position  of  these 
points  reversed." 

When  Miss  Roberta  went  into  the  store-room,  it 
was  Peggy,  who,  under  the  supervision  of  her  mis 
tress,  measured  out  the  fine  white  flour  for  the  bis 
cuits  for  supper.  Peggy  was  being  educated  to  do 
these  things  properly,  and  she  knew  exactly  how 
many  times  the  tin  scoop  must  fill  itself  in  the  barrel 
for  the  ordinary  needs  of  the  family.  Miss  Roberta 
stood,  her  eyes  contemplatively  raised  to  the  narrow 
window,  through  which  she  could  see  a  flush  of  sun 
set  mingling  itself  with  the  outer  air  ;  and  Peggy 
scooped  once,  twice,  thrice,  four  times ;  then  she 
stopped,  and,  raising  her  head,  there  came  into  the 
far-away  gloom  of  her  eyes  a  quick  sparkle  like  a 
flash  of  black  lightning.  She  made  another  and  en 
tirely  supplementary  scoop,  and  then  she  stopped, 
and  let  the  tin  utensil  fall  into  the  barrel  with  a  gen 
tle  thud. 

"  That  will  do,"  said  Miss  Roberta. 

That  night,  when  she  should  have  been  in  her 
bed,  Peggy  sat  alone  by  the  hearth  in  Aunt  Judy's 
cabin,  baking  a  cake.  It  was  a  peculiar  cake,  for 
she  could  get  no  sugar  for  it,  but  she  had  supplied 


12  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

this  deficiency  with  molasses.  It  was  made  of  Miss 
Roberta's  finest  white  flour,  and  eggs  there  were  in 
it  and  butter,  and  it  contained,  besides,  three  raisins, 
an  olive,  and  a  prune.  When  the  outside  of  the 
cake  had  been  sufficiently  baked,  and  every  portion 
of  it  had  been  scrupulously  eaten,  the  good  little 
Peggy  murmured  to  herself :  "  It's  pow'ful  com- 
fortin'  for  Miss  Rob  to  have  sumfin'  on  her  min'." 


CHAPTER  II. 

ABOUT  a  week  after  Mr  Lawrence  Croft  had  had 
his  conversation  with  Miss  March  on  the  stile  steps 
at  Midbranch,  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  his  home 
in  New  York.  He  was  not  a  man  of  business,  but 
he  had  business ;  and,  besides  this,  he  considered  if 
he  continued  much  longer  to  reside  in  the  utterly 
attractionless  cottage  at  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs, 
and  rode  over  every  day  to  the  very  attractive  house 
at  Midbranch,  that  the  points  mentioned  in  the  pre 
vious  chapter  might  get  themselves  reversed.  He 
was  a  man  who  was  proud  of  being,  under  all  circum 
stances,  frank  and  honest  with  himself.  He  did  not 
wish,  if  it  could  be  avoided,  to  deceive  other  people, 
but  he  was  prudent  and  careful  about  exhibiting  his 
motives  and  intended  course  of  action  to  his  asso 
ciates-.  Himself,  however,  he  took  into  his  strictest 
confidence.  He  was  fond  of  the  idea  that  he  went 
into  the  battle  of  life  covered  and  protected  by  a 
great  shield,  but  that  the  inside  of  the  shield  was  a 
mirror  in  which  he  could  always  see  himself.  Look 
ing  into  this  mirror,  he  now  saw  that,  if  he  did  not 
soon  get  away  from  Miss  Roberta,  he  would  lay 
down  his  shield  and  surrender,  and  it  was  his  intent 
that  this  should  not  happen  until  he  wished  it  to 
happen. 


14  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

It  was  very  natural  when  Lawrence  reached  New 
York,  that  he  should  take  pleasure  in  talking  about 
Miss  Roberta  March  and  her  family  with  any  one 
who  knew  them.  He  was  particularly  anxious,  if  he 
could  do  so  delicately  and  without  exciting  any  sus 
picion  of  his  object,  to  know  as  much  as  possible 
about  Sylvester  March,  the  lady's  father.  In  doing 
this,  he  did  not  feel  that  he  was  prying  into  the 
affairs  of  others,  but  he  could  not  be  true  to  himself 
unless  he  looked  well  in  advance  before  he  made  the 
step  on  which  his  mind  was  set.  It  was  in  this  way 
that  he  happened  to  learn  that  about  two  years 
before,  Miss  March  had  been  engaged  to  be  married, 
but  that  the  engagement  had  been  broken  off  for 
reasons  not  known  to  his  informants,  and  he  could 
find  out  nothing  about  the  gentleman,  except  that 
his  name  was  Junius  Keswick. 

The  fact  that  the  lady  had  had  a  lover,  put  her  in 
a  new  light  before  Lawrence  Croft.  He  had  had  an 
idea,  suggested  by  the  very  friendly  nature  of  their 
intercourse,  that  she  was  a  woman  whose  mind  did 
not  run  out  to  love  or  marriage,  but  now  that  he 
knew  that  she  was  susceptible  of  being  wooed  and 
won,  because  these  things  had  actually  happened  to 
her,  he  was  very  glad  that  he  had  come  away  from 
Midbranch. 

The  impression  soon  became  very  strong  upon  the 
mind  of  Lawrence  that  he  would  like  to  know  what 
kind  of  man  was  this  former  lover.  He  had  known 
Miss  March  about  a  year,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
first  acquaintaince  with  her,  she  must  have  come 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  15 

very  fresh  from  this  engagement.  To  study  the  man 
to  whom  Roberta  March  had  been  willing  to  engage 
herself,  was,  to  Lawrence's  mode  of  thinking,  if  not 
a  prerequisite  procedure  in  his  contemplated  course 
of  action,  at  least  a  very  desirable  one. 

But  he  was  rather  surprised  to  find  that  no  one 
knew  much  about  Mr  Junius  Keswick,  or  could  give 
him  any  account  of  his  present  whereabouts,  al 
though  he  had  been,  at  the  time  when  his  engage 
ment  was  in  force,  a  resident  of  New  York.  To 
consult  a  directory  was,  therefore,  an  obvious  first 
step  in  the  affair;  and,  with  this  intent,  Mr  Croft 
entered,  one  morning,  an  apothecary's  shop  in  a 
street  which,  though  a  busy  one,  was  in  a  rather 
out-of-the-way  part  of  the  city. 

"  We  haven't  any  directory,  sir,"  said  the  clerk, 
"but  if  you  will  step  across  the  street  you  can  find 
one  at  that  little  shop  with  the  green  door.  Every 
body  goes  there  to  look  at  the  directory." 

The  green  door  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street, 
approached  by  a  single  flat  step  of  stone,  had  a  tin 
sign  upon  it,  on  which  was  painted : 

"INFORMATION 

OF  EVERY  VARIETY 

FURNISHED  WITHIN." 

Pushing  open  the  door,  Lawrence  entered  a  long, 
narrow  room,  not  very  well  lighted,  with  a  short 
counter  on  one  side,  and  some  desks,  partially 
screened  by  a  curtain,  at  the  farther  end.  A  boy  was 


1 6  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

behind  the  counter,  and  to  him  Lawrence  addressed 
himself,  asking  permission  to  look  at  a  city  direc 
tory. 

"One  cent,  if  you  look  yourself;  three  cents,  if 
we  look,"  said  the  boy,  producing  a  thick  volume 
from  beneath  the  counter. 

"  One  cent  ?  "  said  Lawrence,  smiling  at  the  oddity 
of  this  charge,  as  he  opened  the  book  and  turned 
to  the  letter  K. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy,  "  and  if  the  fine  print  hurts 
your  eyes,  we'll  look  for  three  cents." 

At  this  moment  a  man  came  from  one  of  the  desks 
at  the  other  end  of  the  room,  and  handed  the  boy 
a  letter  with  which  that  young  person  immediately 
departed.  The  new-comer,  a  smooth-shaven  man  of 
about  thirty,  with  the  air  of  the  proprietor  or  head 
manager  very  strong  upon  him,  took  the  boy's  po 
sition  behind  the  counter,  and  remarked  to  Law 
rence  :  "  Most  people,  when  they  first  come  here, 
think  it  rather  queer  to  pay  for  looking  at  the  di 
rectory,  but  you  see  we  don't  keep  a  directory  to 
coax  people  to  come  in  to  buy  medicines  or  anything 
else.  We  sell  nothing  but  information,  and  part  of 
our  stock  is  what  you  get  out  of  a  directory.  But 
it's  the  best  plan  all  round,  for  we  can  afford  to  give 
you  a  clean,  good  book  instead  of  one  all  jagged  and 
worn;  and  as  you  pay  your  money,  you  feel  you  can 
look  as  long  as  you  like,  and  come  when  you  please." 

"  It  is  a  very  good  plan,"  said  Lawrence,  closing 
the  book,  "  but  the  name  I  want  is  not  here." 

"  Perhaps  it  is  in  last  year's  directory,"  said  the 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  17 

man,  producing  another  volume  from  under  the  coun 
ter. 

"  That  wouldn't  do  me  much  good,"  said  Law 
rence.  "  I  want  to  know  where  some  one  resides 
this  year." 

"  It  will  do  a  great  deal  of  good,"  said  the  other, 
"  for  if  we  know  where  a  person  has  lived,  inquiries 
can  be  made  there  as  to  where  he  has  gone.  Some 
times  we  go  back  three  or  four  years,  and  when  we 
have  once  found  a  man's  name,  we  follow  him  up 
from  place  to  place  until  we  can  give  the  inquirer 
his  present  address.  What  is  the  name  you  wanted, 
sir?  You  were  looking  in  the  K's." 

"  Keswick,"  said  Lawrence,  "  Junius  Keswick." 

The  man  ran  his  finger  and  his  eyes  down  a  col 
umn,  and  remarked  :  "  There  is  Keswick,  but  it  is 
Peter,  laborer;  I  suppose  that  isn't  the  party." 

Lawrence  smiled,  and  shook  his  head. 

"  We  will  take  the  year  before  that,"  said  the  man 
with  cheerful  alacrity,  heaving  up  another  volume. 
"  Here's  two  Keswicks,"  he  said  in  a  moment,  "one 
John,  and  the  other  Stephen  W.  Neither  of  them 
right?  " 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence, "  my  man  is  Junius,  and  we 
need  not  go  any  farther  back.  I  am  afraid  the  per 
son  I  am  looking  for  was  only  a  sojourner  in  the 
city,  and  that  his  name  did  not  get  into  the  direc 
tory.  I  know  that  he  was  here  year  before  last." 

"  All  right,  sir,"  said  the  the  other,  pushing  aside 
the  volume  he  had  been  consulting.  "  We'll  find 
the  man  for  you  from  the  hotel  books,  and  what  is 


1 8  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

more,  we  can  see  those  two  Keswicks  that  I  found 
last.  Perhaps  they  were  relations  of  his,  and  he  was 
staying  with  them.  If  you  put  the  matter  in  our 
hands,  we'll  give  you  the  address  to-morrow  night, 
provided  it's  an  ordinary  case.  But  if  he  has  gone 
to  Australia  or  Japan,  of  course,  it'll  take  longer. 
Is  it  crime  or  relationship  ?  " 

"  Neither,"  replied  Lawrence. 

"  It  is  generally  one  of  them,"  said  the  man,  "  and 
if  it's  crime  we  carry  it  on  to  a  certain  point,  and 
then  put  it  into  the  hands  of  the  detectives,  for 
we've  nothing  to  do  with  police  business,  private  or 
otherwise.  But  if  it's  relationship,  we'll  go  right 
through  with  it  to  the  end.  Any  kind  of  informa 
tion  you  may  want  we'll  give  you  here;  scientific,  bio 
graphical,  business,  healthfulness  of  localities,  genu 
ineness  of  antiquities,  age  and  standing  of  individuals, 
purity  of  liquors  or  teas  from  sample,  Bible  items 
localized,  china  verified  ;  in  fact,  anything  you  want 
to  know  we  can  tell  you.  Of  course  we  don't  pre 
tend  that  we  know  all  these  things,  but  we  know  the 
people  who  do  know,  or  who  can  find  them  out. 
By  coming  to  us,  and  paying  a  small  sum,  the  most 
valuable  information,  which  it  would  take  you  years 
to  find  out,  can  be  secured  with  certainty,  and  gener 
ally  in  a  few  days.  We  know  what  to  do,  and  where 
to  go,  and  that's  the  point.  If  it's  a  new  bug,  or  a 
microscope  insect  we  put  it  into  the  hands  of  a  man 
who  knows  just  what  high  scientific  authority  to  ap 
ply  to ;  if  it's  the  middle  name  of  your  next  door 
neighbor  we'll  give  it  to  you  from  his  baptismal 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  19 

record.  I'm  getting  up  a  pamphlet-circular  which 
will  be  ready  in  about  a  week,  and  which  will  fully 
explain  our  methods  of  business,  with  the  charges 
for  the  different  items,  etc." 

"  Well,"  said  Lawrence,  taking  out  his  pocket- 
book,  "  I  want  the  address  of  Junius  Keswick,  and  I 
think  I  will  let  you  look  it  up  for  me.  What  is  your 
charge  ?  " 

"  It  will  be  two  dollars,"  said  the  man,  "  ordinary  ; 
and  if  we  find  inquiries  run  into  other  countries 
we  will  make  special  terms.  And  then  there's  seven 
cents,  one  for  your  look,  and  two  threes  for  ours.  You 
shall  hear  from  us  to-morrow  night  at  your  hotel  or 
residence,  unless  you  prefer  to  call  here." 

"  I  will  call  the  day  after  to-morrow,"  said  Law 
rence,  producing  a  five-dollar  note. 

"  Very  good,"  replied  the  proprietor.  "  Will  you 
please  pay  the  cashier?"  pointing  at  the  same  time 
to  a  desk  behind  Lawrence  which  the  latter  had  not 
noticed. 

Approaching  this  desk,  the  top  of  which,  except 
for  a  small  space  in  front,  was  surrounded  by  short 
curtains,  he  saw  a  young  girl  busily  engaged  in 
reading  a  book.  He  proffered  her  the  note,  the 
proprietor  at  the  same  time  calling  out:  "Two, 
seven." 

The  girl  turned  the  book  down  to  keep  the  place  ; 
then  she  took  the  note,  and  opened  a  small  drawer, 
in  which  she  fumbled  for  some  moments.  Closing 
the  drawer,  she  rose  to  her  feet  and  waved  the  note 
over  the  curtain  to  her  right. 


20  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  Haven't  any  change,  eh  ?  "  said  the  man,  com 
ing  from  behind  the  counter,  and  putting  on  his  hat. 
"  As  the  boy's  not  here,  I'll  step  out  and  get  it." 

The  girl  turned  up  her  book,  and  began  to  read 
again,  and  Lawrence  stood  and  looked  at  her,  won 
dering  what  need  there  was  of  a  cashier  in  a  place 
like  this.  She  appeared  to  be  under  twenty,  rather 
thin-faced,  and  was  plainly  dressed.  In  a  few 
moments  she  raised  her  eyes  from  her  book,  and 
said  :  "  Won't  you  sit  down,  sir  ?  I  am  sorry  you 
have  to  wait,  but  we  are  short  of  change  to-day,  and 
sometimes  it  is  hard  to  get  it  in  this  neighborhood." 

Lawrence  declined  to  be  seated,  but  was  very 
willing  to  talk.  "  Was  it  the  proprietor  of  this  es 
tablishment,"  he  asked,  "who  went  out  to  get  the 
money  changed  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  she  answered.      "That  is  Mr  Candy." 

"  A  queer  name,"  said  Lawrence,  smiling. 

The  girl  looked  up  at  him,  and  smiled  in  return. 
There  was  a  very  perceptible  twinkle  in  her  eyes, 
which  seemed  to  be  eyes  that  would  like  to  be  merry 
ones,  and  a  slight  movement  of  the  corners  of  her 
mouth  which  indicated  a  desire  to  say  something  in 
reply,  but,  restrained  probably  by  loyalty  to  her 
employer,  or  by  prudent  discretion  regarding  con 
versation  with  strangers,  she  was  silent. 

Lawrence,  howrever,  continued  his  remarks.  "  The 
whole  business  seems  to  me  very  odd.  Suppose  I 
were  to  come  here  and  ask  for  information  as  to 
where  I  could  get  a  five-dollar  note  changed  ;  would 
Mr  Candy  be  able  to  tell  me?" 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  21 

"He  would  do  in  that  case  just  as  he  does  in  all 
others/'  she  said  ;  "  first,  he  would  go  and  find  out, 
and  then  he  would  let  you  know.  Giving  informa 
tion  is  only  half  the  business;  finding  things  out 
is  the  other  half.  That's  what  he's  doing  now." 

"  So,  when  he  comes  back,"  said  Lawrence,  "  he'll 
have  a  new  bit  of  information  to  add  to  his  stock  on 
hand,  which  must  be  a  very  peculiar  one,  I  fancy." 

The  cashier  smiled.  "  Yes,"  she  said,  "  and  a  very 
useful  one,  too,  if  people  only  knew  it." 

"  Don't  they  know  it  ?  "  asked  Lawrence.  "  Don't 
you  have  plenty  of  custom?  " 

At  this  moment  the  door  opened,  Mr  Candy  en 
tered,  and  the  conversation  stopped. 

"  Sorry  to  keep  you  waiting,  sir,"  said  the  propri 
etor,  passing  some  money  to  the  cashier  over  the 
curtain,  who,  thereupon,  handed  two  dollars  and 
ninety-three  cents  to  Lawrence  through  the  little 
opening  in  front. 

"  If  you  call  the  day  after  to  morrow,  the  infor 
mation  will  be  ready  for  you,"  said  Mr  Candy,  as 
the  gentleman  departed. 

On  the  appointed  day,  Lawrence  came  again,  and 
found  nobody  in  the  place  but  the  cashier,  who 
handed  him  a  note. 

"  Mr  Candy  left  this  for  you,  in  case  he  should 
not  be  in  when  you  called,"  she  said. 

The  note  stated  that  the  search  for  the  address  of 
Junius  Keswick  had  opened  very  encouragingly,  but 
as  it  was  quite  evident  that  said  person  was  not  now 
in  the  city,  the  investigations  would  have  to  be  car- 


22  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

ried  on  on  a  more  extended  scale,  and  a  deposit  of 
three  dollars  would  be  necessary  to  meet  expenses. 

Lawrence  looked  from  the  note  to  the  cashier, 
who  had  been  watching  him  as  he  read.  u  Does  Mr 
Candy  want  me  to  leave  three  dollars  with  you  ?  " 
he  asked. 

•"  That's  what  he  said,  sir." 

"  Well,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  don't  care  about  pay 
ing  for  unlimited  investigation  in  this  way.  If  the 
gentleman  I  am  in  search  of  has  left  the  city,  and 
Mr  Candy  has  been  able  to  find  out  to  what  place 
he  went,  he  should  have  told  me  that,  and  I  would 
have  decided  whether  or  not  I  wanted  him  to  do 
anything  more." 

The  face  of  the  cashier  appeared  troubled.  "  I 
think,  sir,"  she  said,  "  that  if  you  leave  the  money, 
Mr  Candy  will  do  all  he  can  to  discover  what  you 
wish  to  know,  and  that  it  will  not  be  very  long  be 
fore  you  have  the  address  of  the  person  you  are 
seeking." 

"  Do  you  really  think  he  has  any  clew?"  asked 
Lawrence. 

This  question  did  not  seem  to  please  the  cashier, 
and  she  answered  gravely,  though  without  any  show 
of  resentment :  "  That  is  a  strange  question  after  I 
advised  you  to  leave  the  money." 

Lawrence  had  a  kind  heart,  and  it  reproached  him. 
"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  he.  "  I  will  leave  the 
money  with  you,  but  I  desire  that  Mr  Candy  will, 
in  his  next  communication,  give  me  all  the  informa 
tion  he  has  acquired  up  to  the  moment  of  writing, 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  23 

and  then  I  will  decide  whether  it  is  worth  while  to 
go  on  with  the  matter,  or  not." 

He,  thereupon,  took  out  his  pocket-book  and 
handed  three  dollars  to  the  cashier,  who,  with  an  air 
of  deliberate  thoughtfulness,  smoothed  out  the  two 
notes,  and  placed  them  in  her  drawer.  Then  she 
said :  "  If  you  will  leave  your  address,  sir,  I  will  see 
that  you  receive  your  information  as  soon  as  pos 
sible.  That  will  be  better  than  for  you  to  call, 
because  I  can't  tell  you  when  to  come." 

a  Very  well,"  said  Lawrence,  "  and  I  will  be 
obliged  to  you  if  you  will  hurry  up  Mr  Candy  as 
much  as  you  can."  And,  handing  her  his  card,  he 
went  his  way. 

The  way  of  Lawrence  Croft  was  generally  a  very 
pleasant  one,  for  the  fortunate  conditions  of  his  life 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  go  around  most  of  the 
rough  places  which  might  lie  in  it.  His  family  was 
an  old  one,  and  a  good  one,  but  there  was  very  little 
of  it  left,  and  of  its  scattered  remnants  he  was  the 
most  important  member.  But  although  circum 
stances  did  not  force  him  to  do  anything  in  partic 
ular,  he  liked  to  believe  that  he  was  a  rigid  master 
to  himself,  and  whatever  he  did  was  always  done 
with  a  purpose.  When  he  travelled  he  had  an  ob 
ject  in  view ;  when  he  stayed  at  home  the  case  was 
the  same. 

His  present  purpose  was  the  most  serious  one  of 
his  life :  he  wished  to  marry  ;  and,  if  she  should 
prove  to  be  the  proper  person,  he  wished  to  marry 
Roberta  March  ;  and  as  a  preliminary  step  in  the 


24  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

carrying  out  of  his  purpose,  he  wanted  very  much  to 
know  what  sort  of  man  Miss  March  had  once  been 
willing  to  marry. 

When  five  days  had  elapsed  without  his  hearing 
from  Mr  Candy,  he  became  impatient  and  betook 
himself  to  the  green  door  with  the  tin  sign.  Enter 
ing,  he  found  only  the  boy  and  the  cashier.  Ad 
dressing  himself  to  the  latter,  he  asked  if  anything 
had  been  done  in  his  business. 

uYes,  sir,"  she  said,  "  and  I  hoped  Mr  Candy 
would  write  you  a  letter  this  morning  before  he 
went  out,  but  he  didn't.  He  traced  the  gentleman 
to  Niagara  Falls,  and  I  think  you'll  hear  something 
very  soon." 

"  If  inquiries  have  to  be  carried  on  outside  of  the 
city,"  said  Lawrence,  "  they  will  probably  cost  a 
good  deal,  and  come  to  nothing.  I  think  I  will 
drop  the  matter  as  far  as  Mr  Candy  is  concerned." 

"  I  wish  you  would  give  us  a  little  more  time," 
said  the  girl.  "  I  am  sure  you  will  hear  something 
in  a  few  days,  and  you  need  not  be  afraid  there  will 
be  anything  more  to  pay  unless  you  are  satisfied 
that  you  have  received  the  full  worth  of  the  money." 

Lawrence  reflected  for  a  few  moments,  and  then 
concluded  to  let  the  matter  go  on.  "Tell  Mr  Candy 
to  keep  me  frequently  informed  of  the  progress  of 
the  affair,"  said  he,  "  and  if  he  is  really  of  any  service 
to  me  I  am  willing  to  pay  him,  but  not  otherwise." 

"  That  will  be  all  right,"  said  the  cashier,  u  and  if 
Mr  Candy  is — is  prevented  from  doing  it,  I'll  write 
to  you  myself,  and  keep  you  posted." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  25 

As  soon  as  the  customer  had  gone,  the  boy,  who 
had  been  sitting  on  the  counter,  thus  spoke  to  the 
cashier:  "You  know  very  well  that  old  Mintstick 
has  given  that  thing  up  !  " 

"  I  know  he  has,"  said  the  girl,  "  but  I  have  not." 

"  You  haven't  anything  to  do  with  it,"  said  the 
boy. 

"  Yes,  I  have,"  she  answered.  "  I  advised  that 
gentleman  to  pay  his  money,  and  I'm  not  going  to 
see  him  cheated  out  of  it.  Of  course,  Mr  Candy 
doesn't  mean  to  cheat  him,  but  he  has  gone  into  that 
business  about  the  origin  of  the  tame  blackberry, 
and  there's  no  knowing  when  he'll  get  back  to  this 
thing,  which  is  not  in  his  line,  anyway." 

"  I  should  say  it  wasn't  !  "  exclaimed  the  boy  with 
a  loud  laugh.  "  Sendin'  me  to  look  up  them  two 
Keswicks,  who  was  both  put  down  as  cordwainers 
in  year  before  last's  directory,  and  askin'  'em  if 
there  was  any  Juniuses  in  their  families." 

"  Junius  Keswick,  did  you  say  ?  Is  that  the  name 
of  the  gentleman  Mr  Candy  was  looking  for?" 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy. 

Presently  the  cashier  remarked :  "  I  am  going  to 
look  at  the  books."  And  she  betook  herself  to 
the  desk  at  the  back  part  of  the  shop. 

In  about  half  an  hour  she  returned  and  handed  to 
the  boy  a  memorandum  upon  a  scrap  of  paper.  "You 
go  out  now  to  your  lunch,"  she  said,  "  and  while  you 
are  out,  stop  at  the  St.  Winifred  Hotel,  where  Mr 
Candy  found  the  name  of  Junius  Keswick,  and  see 
if  it  is  not  down  again  not  long  after  the  date  which 


26  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

I  have  put  on  this  slip  of  paper.  I  think  if  a  person 
went  to  Niagara  Falls  he'd  be  just  as  likely  to  make 
a  little  trip  of  it  and  come  back  again  as  to  keep 
travelling  on,  which  Mr  Candy  supposes  he  did.  If 
you  find  the  name  again,  put  down  the  date  of  arri 
val  on  this,  and  see  if  there  was  any  memorandum 
about  forwarding  letters." 

"All  right,"  said  the  boy.  "  But  I'll  be  gone 
an  hour  and  a  half.  Can't  cut  into  my  lunch  time." 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days  Lawrence  Croft  re 
ceived  a  note  signed  Candy  &  Co.  "  per"  some  illeg 
ible  initials,  which  stated  that  Mr  Junius  Keswick 
had  been  traced  to  a  boarding-house  in  the  city,  but 
as  the  establishment  had  been  broken  up  for  some 
time,  endeavors  were  now  being  made  to  find  the 
lady  who  had  kept  the  house,  and  when  this  was 
done  it  would  most  likely  be  possible  to  discover 
from  her  where  Mr  Keswick  had  gone. 

Lawrence  waited  a  few  days  and  then  called  at  the 
Information  Shop.  Again  was  Mr  Candy  absent ; 
and  so  was  the  boy.  The  cashier  informed  him  that 
she  had  found — that  is,  that  the  lady  who  kept  the 
boarding-house  had  been  found— and  she  thought 
she  remembered  the  gentlemen  in  question,  and 
promised,  as  soon  as  she  could,  to  look  through  a 
book,  in  which  she  used  to  keep  directions  for  the 
forwarding  of  letters,  and  in  this  way  another  clew 
might  soon  be  expected. 

"  This  seems  to  be  going  on  better,"  said  Law 
rence,  "  but  Mr  Candy  doesn't  show  much  in  the 
affair.  Who  is  managing  it  ?  You  ?  " 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  27 

The  girl  blushed  and  then  laughed,  a  little  confus 
edly.  "  I  am  only  the  cashier,"  she  said. 

"And  the  laborious  duties  of  your  position  would, 
of  course,  give  you  no  time  for  anything  else,"  re 
marked  Lawrence. 

"  Oh,  well,"  said  the  girl,  u  of  course  it  is  easy 
enough  for  any  one  to  see  that  I  haven't  much  to  do 
as  cashier,  but  the  boy  and  Mr  Candy  are  nearly 
always  out,  looking  up  things,  and  I  have  to  do  other 
business  besides  attending  to  cash." 

"  If  you  are  attending  to  my  business,"  said  Law 
rence,  "  I  am  very  glad,  especially  now  that  it  has 
reached  the  boarding-house  stage,  where  I  think 
a  woman  will  be  better  able  to  work  than  a  man. 
Are  you  doing  this  entirely  independent  of  Mr 
Candy?" 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  the  cashier,  with  an  honest, 
straight-forward  look  from  her  gray  eyes  that  pleased 
Lawrence,  "  I  may  as  well  confess  that  I  am.  But 
there's  nothing  mean  about  it.  He  has  all  the  same 
as  given  it  up,  for  he's  waiting  to  hear  from  a  man 
at  Niagara,  who  will  never  write  to  him,  and  prob 
ably  hasn't  any  thing  to  write,  and  as  I  advised  you 
to  pay  the  money  I  feel  bound  in  honor  to  see  that 
the  business  is  done,  if  it  can  be  done." 

"  Have  you  a  brother  or  a  husband  to  help  you  in 
these  investigations  and  searches  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"  No,"  said  the  cashier  with  a  smile.  "  Sometimes 
I  send  our  boy,  and  as  to  boarding  houses,  I  can  go 
to  them  myself  after  we  shut  up  here." 

"  I  wish,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that  you  were  married, 


28  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

and  that  you  had  a  husband  who  would  not  interfere 
in  this  matter  at  all,  but  who  would  go  about  with 
you,  and  so  enable  you  to  follow  up  your  clew 
thoroughly.  You  take  up  the  business  in  the  right 
spirit,  and  I  believe  you  would  succeed  in  finding 
Mr  Keswick,  but  I  don't  like  the  idea  of  sending 
you  about  by  yourself." 

"  I  won't  deny/'  said  the  cashier,  "  that  since  I 
have  begun  this  affair  I  would  like  very  much  to 
carry  it  out  ;  so,  if  you  don't  object,  I  won't  give  it 
up  just  yet,  and  as  soon  as  anything  happens  I'll  let 
you  know." 


CHAPTER   III. 

AUTUMN  in  Virginia,  especially  if  one  is  not  too 
near  the  mountains,  is  a  season  in  which  greenness 
sails  very  close  to  Christmas,  although  generally 
veering  away  in  time  to  prevent  its  verdant  hues 
from  tingeing  that  happy  day  with  the  gloomy  in 
fluence  of  the  prophetic  proverb  about  church 
yards.  Long  after  the  time  when  the  people  of  the 
regions  watered  by  the  Hudson  and  the  Merrimac 
are  beginning  to  button  up  their  overcoats,  and  to 
think  of  weather  strips  for  their  window-sashes,  the 
dwellers  in  the  land  through  which  flow  the  Appo- 
mattox  and  the  James  may  sit  upon  their  broad 
piazzas,  and  watch  the  growing  glories  of  the  forests, 
where  the  crimson  stars  of  the  sweet  gum  blaze 
among  the  rich  yellows  of  the  chestnuts,  the  linger 
ing  green  of  the  oaks,  and  the  enduring  verdure  of 
the  pines.  The  insects  still  hum  in  the  sunny  air, 
and  the  sun  is  now  a  genial  orb  whose  warm  rays 
cheer  but  not  excoriate. 

The  orb  just  mentioned  was  approaching  the  hori 
zon,  when,  in  an  adjoining  county  to  that  in  which 
was  situated  the  hospitable  mansion  of  Midbranch,  a 
little  negro  boy  about  ten  years  old  was  driving 
some  cows  through  a  gateway  that  opened  on  a 
public  road.  The  cows,  as  they  were  going  home- 


30  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

ward,  filed  willingly  through  the  gateway,  which  led 
into  a  field,  at  the  far  end  of  which  might  be  dimly 
discerned  a  house  behind  a  mass  of  foliage ;  but  the 
boy,  whose  head  and  voice  were  entirely  too  big  for 
the  rest  of  him,  assailed  them  with  all  manner  of  re 
proaches  and  impellent  adjectives,  addressing  each 
cow  in  turn  as :  "  You,  sah  !  "  When  the  compliant 
beasts  had  hustled  through,  the  youngster  got  upon 
the  gate,  and  giving  it  a  push  with  one  bare  foot,  he 
swung  upon  it  as  far  as  it  would  go  ;  then  lifting 
the  end  from  the  surface  of  the  ground  he  shut  it 
with  a  bang,  fastened  it  with  a  hook,  and  ran  after 
the  cows,  his  wild  provocatives  to  bovine  haste  ring 
ing  high  into  the  evening  air. 

This  youth  was  known  as  Plez,  his  whole  name 
being  Pleasant  Valley,  an  inspiration  to  his  mother 
from  the  label  on  a  grape  box,  which  had  drifted  into 
that  region  from  the  North.  He  had  just  stooped  to 
pick  up  a  clod  of  earth  with  which  to  accentuate  his 
vociferations,  when,  on  rising,  he  was  astounded  by 
the  apparition  of  an  elderly  woman  wearing  a  purple 
sun-bonnet,  and  carrying  a  furled  umbrella  of  the 
same  color.  Behind  the  spectacles,  which  were  fixed 
upon  him,  blazed  a  pair  of  fiery  eyes,  and  the  soul 
of  Plez  shrivelled  and  curled  up  within  him.  His 
downcast  eyes  were  bent  upon  his  upturned  toes, 
the  clod  dropped  from  his  limp  fingers,  and  his 
mouth  which  had  been  opened  for  a  yell,  remained 
open,  but  the  yell  had  apparently  swooned. 

The  words  of  the  old  lady  were  brief,  but  her  um 
brella  was  full  of  jerky  menace,  and  when  she  left 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  31 

him,  and  passed  on  toward  the  outer  gate,  Plez  fol 
lowed  the  cows  to  the  house  with  the  meekness  of  a 
suspected  sheep  dog. 

The  cows  had  been  milked,  some  by  a  rotund 
black  woman  named  Letty,  and  some,  much  to  their 
discomfort,  by  Plez  himself,  and  it  was  beginning  to 
grow  dark,  when  an  open  spring  wagon  driven  by  a 
colored  man,  and  with  a  white  man  on  the  back  seat 
came  along  the  road,  and  stopped  at  the  gate.  The 
driver  having  passed  the  reins  to  the  occupant  on  the 
back  seat,  got  down,  opened  the  gate,  and  stood  hold 
ing  it  while  the  other  drove  the  horse  into  the  road 
which  ran  by  the  side  of  the  field  to  the  house  be 
hind  the  trees.  At  this  time  a  passer-by,  if  there 
had  been  one,  might  have  observed,  partly  protrud 
ing  from  behind  some  bushes  on  the  other  side  of 
the  public  road,  and  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
gate,  the  lower  portion  of  a  purple  umbrella.  As  the 
spring  wagon  approached,  and  during  the  time  that 
it  was  turning  into  the  gate,  and  while  it  was  wait 
ing  for  the  driver  to  resume  his  seat,  this  umbrella 
was  considerably  agitated,  so  much  so  indeed  as  to 
cause  a  little  rustling  among  the  leaves.  When  the 
gate  had  been  shut,  and  the  wagon  had  passed  on 
toward  the  house,  the  end  of  the  umbrella  disap 
peared,  and  then,  on  the  other  side  of  the  bush,  there 
came  into  view  a  sun-bonnet  of  the  same  color  as  the 
umbrella.  This  surmounted  the  form  of  an  old  lady, 
who  stepped  into  the  pathway  by  the  side  of  the 
road,  and  walked  away  with  a  quick,  active  step 
which  betokened  both  energy  and  purpose. 


32  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

The  house,  before  which,  not  many  minutes  later, 
this  spring  wagon  stopped,  was  not  a  fine  old  fam 
ily  mansion  like  that  of  Midbranch,  but  it  was  a 
comfortable  dwelling,  though  an  unpretending  one. 
The  gentleman  on  the  back  seat,  and  the  driver, 
who  was  an  elderly  negro,  both  turned  toward  the 
hall  door,  which  was  open  and  lighted  by  a  lamp 
within,  as  if  they  expected  some  one  to  come  out  on 
the  porch.  But  nobody  came,  and,  after  a  moment's 
hesitation,  the  gentleman  got  down,  and  taking  a 
valise  from  the  back  of  the  wagon,  mounted  the 
steps  of  the  porch.  While  he  was  doing  this  the 
face  of  the  negro  man,  which  could  be  plainly  seen 
in  the  light  from  the  hall  door,  grew  anxious  and 
troubled.  When  the  gentleman  set  his  valise  on 
the  porch,  and  stood  by  it  without  making  any 
attempt  to  enter,  the  old  man  put  down  the  reins 
and  quickly  descending  from  his  seat,  hurried  up 
the  steps. 

"  Dunno  whar  ole  miss  is,  but  I  reckon  she  done 
gone  to  look  after  de  tukkies.  She  dreffle  keerful 
dat  dey  all  go  to  roos'  ebery  night.  Walk  right  in, 
Mahs'  Junius."  And,  taking  up  the  valise,  he  fol 
lowed  the  gentleman  into  the  hall. 

There,  near  the  back  door,  stood  the  rotund  black 
woman,  and,  behind  her,  Plez.  "  Look  h'yar  Letty," 
said  the  negro  man,  "  whar  ole  miss  ?  " 

"  Dunno, "  said  the  woman.  "  She  done  gib  out 
supper,  an'  I  ain't  seed  her  sence.  Is  dis  Mahs' 
Junius  ?  Reckon'  you  don'  'member  Letty  ?  " 

"  Yes  I  do,"  said  the  gentleman,  shaking   hands 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  33 

with  her ;  "  but  the  Letty  I  remember  was  a  rather 
slim  young  woman." 

"  Dat's  so,"  said  Letty,  with  a  respectful  laugh, 
u  but,  shuh  'nuf,  my  food's  been  blessed  to  me, 
Mahs'  Junius." 

"  But  whar's  ole  miss  ?  "  persisted  the  old  man. 
"  You,  Letty,  can't  you  go  look  her  up  ?  " 

Now  was  heard  the  voice  of  Plez,  who  meekly 
emerged  from  the  shade  of  Letty.  "  Ole  miss  done 
gone  out  to  de  road  gate,"  said  he.  "  I  seen  her 
when  I  brung  de  cows." 

"  Bress  my  soul !  "  ejaculated  Letty.  "  Out  to  de 
road  gate  !  An'  'spectin'  you  too,  Mahs'  Junius  !  " 

"  Didn't  she  say  nuffin  to  you  ?  "  said  the  old  man, 
addressing  Plez. 

"  She  didn't  say  nuffin  to  me,  Uncle  Isham,"  an 
swered  the  boy,  "  'cept  if  I  didn't  quit  skeerin'  dem 
cows,  an'  makin'  'em  run  wid  froin'  rocks  till  dey 
ain't  got  a  drip  drap  o'  milk  lef  in  'em,  she'd  whang 
me  ober  de  head  wid  her  umbril." 

"  'Tain't  easy  to  tell  whar  she  done  gone  from 
dat,"  said  Letty. 

The  face  of  Uncle  Isham  grew  more  troubled. 
"Walk  in  de  parlor,  Mahs'  Junius,"  he  said,  u  an' 
make  yourse'f  comf'ble.  Ole  miss  boun'  to  be  back 
d'reckly.  I'll  go  put  up  de  hoss." 

As  the  old  man  went  heavily  down  the  porch 
steps  he  muttered  to  himself :  "  I  was  feared  o' 
sumfin  like  dis ;  I  done  feel  it  in  my  bones." 

The  gentleman  took  a  seat  in  the  parlor  where 
Letty  had  preceded  him  with  a  lamp.  u  Reckon 
3 


34  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

ole  miss  didn't  spec'  you  quite  so  soon,  Mahs'  Jun- 
ius,  cos  de  sorrel  hoss  is  pow'ful  slow,  and  Uncle 
Isham  is  mighty  keerful  ob  rocks  in  de  road. 
Reckon  she's  done  gone  ober  to  see  ole  Aun'  Patsy, 
who's  gwine  to  die  in  two  or  free  days,  to  take  her 
some  red  an'  yaller  pieces  for  a  crazy  quilt.  I  know 
she's  got  some  pieces  fur  her." 

"  Aunt  Patsy  alive  yet  ?"  exclaimed  Master  Jun- 
ius.  "  But  if  she's  about  to  die,  what  does  she  want 
with  a  crazy  quilt  ?  " 

"  Dat's  fur  she  shroud,  said  Letty.  "  She  'tends 
to  go  to  glory  all  wrap  up  in  a  crazy  quilt,  jus  chock- 
full  ob  all  de  colors  of  the  rainbow.  Aun'  Patsy 
neber  did  'tend  to  have  a  shroud  o'  bleached  do 
mestic  like  common  folks.  She  wants  to  cut  a 
shine  'mong  de  angels,  an'  her  quilt's  most  done, 
jus'  one  corner  ob  it  lef.  Reckon  ole  miss  done 
gone  to  carry  her  de  pieces  fur  dat  corner.  Dere 
ain't  much  time  lef,  fur  Aun'  Patsy  is  pretty  nigh 
dead  now.  She's  ober  two  hunnerd  years  ole." 

"What!"  exclaimed  Master  Junius,  "two  hun 
dred?" 

"  Yes,  sah,"  answered  Letty.  "  Doctor  Peter's 
old  Jim  was  more'n  a  hunnerd  when  he  died,  an'  we 
all  knows  Aun'  Patsy  is  twice  as  ole  as  ole  Jim." 

"I'll  wait  here,"  said  Master  Junius,  taking  up  a 
book.  "  I  suppose  she  will  be  back  before  long." 

In  about  half  an  hour  Uncle  Isham  came  into  the 
kitchen,  his  appearance  indicating  that  he  had  had 
a  hurried  walk,  and  told  Letty  that  she  had  better 
give  Master  Junius  his  supper  without  waiting  any 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  35 

longer  for  her  mistress.  "She  ain't  at  Aim'  Patsy's," 
said  the  old  man,  "  and  she's  jus'  done  gone  some- 
whar  else,  and  she'll  come  back  when  she's  a  mind 
to,  an'  dar  ain't  nuffin  else  to  say  'bout  it. 

Supper  was  eaten ;  a  pipe  was  smoked  on  the 
porch;  and  Master  Junius  went  to  bed  in  a  room 
which  had  been  carefully  prepared  for  him  under 
the  supervision  of  the  mistress  ;  but  the  purple  sun- 
bonnet,  and  the  umbrella  of  the  same  color  did  not 
return  to  the  house  that  night. 

Master  Junius  was  a  quiet  man,  and  fond  of  walk- 
.ing  ;  and  the  next  day  he  devoted  to  long  rambles, 
sometimes  on  the  roads,  sometimes  over  the  fields, 
and  sometimes  through  the  woods  ;  but  in  none  of 
his  walks,  nor  when  he  came  back  to  dinner  and  sup 
per,  did  he  meet  the  elderly  mistress  of  the  house  to 
which  he  had  come.  That  evening,  as  he  sat  on  the 
top  step  of  the  porch  with  his  pipe,  he  summoned 
to  him  Uncle  Isham,  and  thus  addressed  the  old 
man: 

"  I  think  it  is  impossible,  Isham,  that  your  mis 
tress  started  out  to  meet  me,  and  that  an  accident 
happened  to  her.  I  have  walked  all  over  this  neigh 
borhood,  and  I  know  that  no  accident  could  have 
occurred  without  my  seeing  or  hearing  something 
of  it." 

Uncle  Isham  stood  on  the  ground,  his  feet  close 
to  the  bottom  step ;  his  hat  was  in  his  hand,  and 
his  upturned  face  wore  an  expression  of  earnestness 
which  seemed  to  set  uncomfortably  upon  it. 
"  Mahs'  Junius,"  said  he,  "  dar  ain't  no  acciden'  come 


36  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

to  ole  miss ;  she's  done  gone  cos  she  wanted  to,  anj 
she  ain't  come  back  cos  she  didn't  want  to.  Dat's 
ole  miss,  right  fru." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  the  young  man,  "  that  as  she 
went  away  on  foot  she  must  be  staying  with  some 
of  the  neighbors.  If  we  were  to  make  inquiries,  it 
certainly  would  not  be  difficuit  to  find  out  where 
she  is." 

"Mans'  Junius,"  said  Uncle  Isham,  his  black  eyes 
shining  brighter  and  brighter  as  he  spoke,  "  dar's 
culled  people,  an'  white  folks  too  in  dis  yer  county 
who'd  put  on  dere  bes'  clothes  an'  black  dere  shoes, 
an'  skip  off  wid  alacrousness,  to  do  de  wus  kin'  o' 
sin,  dat  dey  knowed  for  sartin  would  send  'em 
down  to  de  deepes'  and  hottes'  gullies  ob  de  lower 
regions,  but  nuffin  in  dis  worl'  could  make  one  o' 
dem  people  go  'quirin'  'bout  ole  miss  when  she 
didn't  want  to  be  'quired  about." 

The  smoker  put  down  his  pipe  on  the  top  step 
beside  him,  and  sat  for  a  few  moments  in  thought. 
Then  he  spoke.  "  Isham,"  he  began,  "  I  want  you 
to  tell  me  if  you  have  any  notion  or  idea — 

"  Mahs'  Junius,"  exclaimed  the  old  negro,  "  scuse 
me  fur  int'ruptin',  but  I- can't  help  it.  Don'  you  go, 
an  ax  an  ole  man  like  me  if  I  tinks  dat  ole  miss 
went  away  cos  you  was  comin'  an'  if  it's  my  true 
b'lief  dat  she'll  neber  come  back  while  you  is  h'yar. 
Don'  ask  me  nuffin  like  dat,  Mahs'  Junius,  Ise 
libed  in  dis  place  all  my  bawn  days,  an'  I  ain't  neber 
done  nuffin  to  you,  Mails'  Junius,  'cept  keepin'  you. 
from  breakin'  you  neck  when  you  was  too  little  to 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  37 

know  better.  I  neber  'jected  to  you  marryin'  any 
lady  you  like  bes',  an'  'tain't  far  Mahs'  Junius,  now 
Ise  ole  an'  gittin'  on  de  careen,  fur  you  to  ax  me 
wot  I  tinks  about  ole  miss  gwine  away  an'  comin' 
back.  I  begs  you,  Mahs'  Junius,  don'  ax  me  dat." 

Master  Junius  rose  to  his  feet.  "  All  right,  Isham," 
he  said  ;  "  I  shall  not  worry  your  good  old  heart  with 
questions."  And  he  went  into  the  house. 

The  next  day  this  quiet  gentleman  and  good  walker 
went  to  see  old  Aunt  Patsy,  who  had  apparently 
consented  to  live  a  day  or  two  longer ;  gave  her  a  little 
money  in  lieu  of  pieces  for  her  crazy  bed-quilt  ;  and 
told  her  he  was  going  away  to  stay.  He  told  Uncle 
Isham  he  was  going  away  to  stay  away  ;  and  he  said 
the  same  thing  to  Letty,  and  to  Plez,  and  to  two 
colored  women  of  the  neighborhood  whom  he  hap 
pened  to  see.  Then  he  took  his  valise,  which  was 
not  a  very  large  one,  and  departed.  He  refused  to 
be  conveyed  to  the  distant  station  in  the  spring 
wagon,  saying  that  he  much  preferred  to  walk. 
Uncle  Isham  took  leave  of  him  with  much  sadness, 
but  did  not  ask  him  to  stay ;  and  Letty  and  Plez 
looked  after  him  wistfully,  still  holding  in  their 
hands  the  coins  he  had  placed  there.  With  the  ex 
ception  of  these  coins,  the  only  thing  he  left  behind 
him  was  a  sealed  letter  on  the  parlor  table,  directed 
to  the  mistress  of  the  house. 

Toward  the  end  of  that  afternoon,  two  women 
came  along  the  public  road  which  passed  the  outer 
gate.  One  came  from  the  south,  and  rode  in  an 
open  carriage,  evidently  hired  at  the  railroad  station ; 


38  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

the  other  was  on  foot,  and  came  from  the  north ; 
she  wore  a  purple  sun-bonnet,  and  carried  an  um 
brella  of  the  same  color.  When  this  latter  individual 
caught  sight  of  the  approaching  carriage,  then  at 
some  distance,  she  stopped  short  and  gazed  at  it. 
She  did  not  retire  behind  a  bush,  as  she  had  done  on 
a  former  occasion,  but  she  stood  in  the  shade  of  a 
tree  on  the  side  of  the  road,  and  waited.  As  the 
carriage  came  nearer  to  the  gate  the  surprise  upon 
her  face  became  rapidly  mingled  with  indignation. 
The  driver  had  checked  the  speed  of  his  horses,  and, 
without  doubt,  intended  to  stop  at  the  gate.  This 
might  not  have  been  sufficient  to  excite  her  emo 
tions,  but  she  now  saw  clearly,  having  not  been  quite 
certain  of  it  before,  that  the  occupant  of  the  carriage 
was  a  lady,  and,  apparently,  a  young  one,  for  she 
wore  in  her  hat  some  bright-colored  flowers.  The 
driver  stopped,  got  down,  opened  the  gate,  and  then, 
mounting  to  his  seat,  drove  through,  leaving  the 
gate  standing  wide  open. 

This  contempt  of  ordinary  proprietary  require 
ments  made  the  old  lady  spring  out  from  the  shelter 
of  the  shade.  Brandishing  her  umbrella,  she  was 
about  to  cry  out  to  the  man  to  stop  and  shut  the 
gate,  but  she  restrained  herself.  The  distance  was 
too  great,  and,  besides,  she  thought  better  of  it. 
She  went  again  into  the  shade,  and  waited.  In 
about  ten  minutes  the  carriage  came  back,  but  with 
out  the  lady.  This  time  the  driver  got  down,  shut 
the  gate  after  him,  and  drove  rapidly  away. 

If  blazing  eyes  could  crack  glass,  the  spectacles  of 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  39 

the  old  lady  would  have  been  splintered  into  many 
pieces  as  she  stood  by  the  road-side,  the  end  of  her 
umbrella  jabbed  an  inch  or  two  into  the  ground. 
After  standing  thus  for  some  five  minutes,  she  sud 
denly  turned  and  walked  vigorously  away  in  the 
direction  from  which  she  had  come. 

Uncle  Isham,  Letty,  and  the  boy  Plez,  were  very 
much  surprised  at  the  arrival  of  the  lady  in  the 
carriage.  She  had  asked  for  the  mistress  of  the 
house,  and  on  being  assured  that  she  was  expected 
to  return  very  soon,  had  alighted,  paid  and  dismissed 
her  driver,  and  had  taken  a  seat  in  the  parlor.  Her 
valise,  rather  larger  than  that  of  the  previous  visitor, 
was  brought  in  and  put  in  the  hall.  She  waited  for 
an  hour  or  two,  during  which  time  Letty  made 
several  attempts  to  account  for  the  non-appearance 
of  her  mistress,  who,  she  said,  was  away  on  a  visit, 
but  was  expected  back  every  minute;  and  when 
supper  was  ready  she  partook  of  that  meal  alone, 
and  after  a  short  evening  spent  in  reading  she  went 
to  bed  in  the  chamber  which  Letty  prepared  for 
her. 

Before  she  retired,  Letty,  who  had  shown  herself 
a  very  capable  attendant,  said  to  her :  "  Wot's  your 
name,  miss  ?  I  allus  likes  to  know  the  names  o' 
ladies  I  waits  on. 

"  My  name,"  said  the  lady,  u  is  Mrs  Null." 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  Autumn  sun  was  shining  very  pleasantly 
when,  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Mrs  Null 
came  out  on  the  porch,  and,  standing  at  the  top  of 
the  steps,  looked  about  her.  She  had  on  her  hat 
with  the  red  flowers,  and  she  wore  a  short  jacket, 
into  the  pockets  of  which  her  hands  were  thrust 
with  an  air  which  indicated  satisfaction  with  the 
circumstances  surrounding  her.  The  old  dog,  lying 
on  the  grass  at  the  bottom  of  the  steps,  looked  up  at 
her  and  flopped  his  tail  upon  the  ground.  Mrs  Null 
called  to  him  in  a  cheerful  tone  and  the  dog  arose, 
and,  hesitatingly,  put  his  forefeet  on  the  bottom 
step ;  then,  when  she  held  out  her  hand  and  spoke 
to  him  again,  he  determined  that,  come  what  might, 
he  would  go  up  those  forbidden  steps,  and  let  her 
pat  his  head.  This  he  did,  and  after  looking  about 
him  to  assure  himself  that  this  was  reality  and 
not  a  dog  dream,  he  laid  down  upon  the  door-mat, 
and,  with  a  sigh  of  relief,  composed  himself  to  sleep. 
A  black  turkey  gobbler,  who  looked  as  if  he  had 
been  charred  in  a  fire,  followed  by  five  turkey  hens, 
also  suggesting  the  idea  that  water  had  been  thrown 
over  them  before  anything  but  their  surfaces  had 
been  burned,  came  timidly  around  the  house  and 
stopped  before  venturing  upon  the  greensward  in 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  41 

front  of  the  porch  ;  then,  seeing  nobody  but  Mrs 
Null,  they  advanced  with  bobbing  heads  and  sway 
ing  bodies  to  look  into  the  resources  of  this  seldom 
explored  region.  Plez,  who  was  coming  from  the 
spring  with  a  pail  of  water  on  his  head,  saw  the  dog 
on  the  porch  and  the  turkeys  on  the  grass,  and 
stopped  to  regard  the  spectacle.  He  looked  at  them, 
and  he  looked  at  Mrs  Null,  and  a  grin  of  amused 
interest  spread  itself  over  his  face. 

Mrs  Null  went  down  the  steps  and  approached 
the  boy.  "  Plez,"  said  she,  "  if  your  mistress,  or  any 
body,  should  come  here  this  morning,  you  must  run 
over  to  Pine  Top  Hill  and  call  me.  I'm  going  there 
to  read." 

"  Don'  you  want  me  to  go  wid  yer,  and  show  you 
de  way,  Miss  Null? "asked  Plez,  preparing  to  set 
down  his  pail. 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  she,  "  I  know  the  way."  And  with 
her  hands  still  in  her  pockets,  from  one  of  which 
protruded  a  rolled-up  novel,  she  walked  down  to  the 
little  stream  which  ran  from  the  spring,  crossed  the 
plank  and  took  the  path  which  led  by  the  side  of 
the  vineyard  to  Pine  Top  Hill. 

This  lady  visitor  had  now  been  here  two  days 
waiting  for  the  return  of  the  mistress  of  the  little 
estate  ;  and  the  sojourn  had  evidently  been  of  benefit 
to  her.  Good  air,  the  good  meals  with  which  Letty 
had  provided  her,  and  a  sort  of  sympathy  which  had 
sprung  up  in  a  very  sudden  way  between  her  and 
everything  on  the  place,  had  given  brightness  to  her 
eyes.  She  even  looked  a  little  plumper  than  when 


42  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

she  came,  and  certainly  very  pretty.  She  climbed 
Pine  Top  Hill  without  making  any  mistake  as  to  the 
best  path,  and  went  directly  to  a  low  piece  of  sun- 
warmed  rock  which  cropped  out  from  the  ground 
not  far  from  the  bases  of  the  cluster  of  pines  which 
gave  the  name  to  the  hill.  An  extended  and  very 
pretty  view  could  be  had  from  this  spot,  and  Mrs 
Null  seemed  to  enjoy  it,  looking  about  her  with 
quick  turns  of  the  head  as  if  she  wanted  to  satisfy 
herself  that  all  of  the  scenery  was  there.  Appar 
ently  satisfied  that  it  was,  she  stretched  out  her  feet, 
withdrew  her  gaze  from  the  surrounding  country, 
and  regarded  the  toes  of  her  boots.  Now  she 
smiled  a  little  and  began  to  speak. 

"  Freddy,"  said  she,  "  I  must  think  over  matters, 
and  have  a  talk  with  you  about  them.  Nothing 
could  be  more  proper  than  this,  since  we  are  on  our 
wedding  tour.  You  keep  beautifully  in  the  back 
ground,  which  is  very  nice  of  you,  for  that's  what  I 
married  you  for.  But  we  must  have  a  talk  now,  for 
we  haven't  said  a  word  to  each  other,  nor,  perhaps, 
thought  of  each  other  during  the  whole  three  nights 
and  two  days  that  we  have  been  here.  I  expect 
these  people  think  it  very  queer  that  I  should  keep 
on  waiting  for  their  mistress  to  come  back,  but  I 
can't  help  it ;  I  must  stay  till  she  comes,  or  he  comes, 
and  they  must  continue  to  think  it  funny.  And  as 
for  Mr  Croft,  I  suppose  I  should  get  a  letter  from 
him  if  he  knew  where  to  write,  but  you  know,  Fred 
dy,  we  are  travelling  about  on  this  wedding  tour 
without  letting  anybody,  especially  Mr  Croft,  know 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  43 

exactly  where  we  are.  He  must  think  it  an  awfully 
wonderful  piece  of  good  luck  that  a  young  married 
couple  should  happen  to  be  journeying  in  the  very 
direction  taken  by  a  gentleman  whom  he  wants  to 
find,  and  that  they  are  willing  to  look  for  the  gentle 
man  without  charging  anything  but  the  extra  ex 
penses  to  which  they  may  be  put.  We  wouldn't 
charge  him  a  cent,  you  know,  Freddy  Null,  but  for 
the  fear  that  he  would  think  we  would  not  truly  act 
as  his  agents  if  we  were  not  paid,  and  so  would 
employ  somebody  else.  We  don't  want  him  to 
employ  anybody  else.  We  want  to  find  Junius  Kes- 
wick  before  he  does,  and  then,  maybe,  we  won't 
want  Mr  Croft  to  find  him  at  all:  But  I  hope  it 
will  not  turn  out  that  way.  He  said,  it  was  neither 
crime  nor  relationship  and,  of  course,  it  couldn't  be. 
What  I  hope  is,  that  it  is  good  fortune ;  but  that's 
doubtful.  At  any  rate,  I  must  see  Junius  first,  if  I 
can  possibly  manage  it.  If  she  would  only  come 
back  and  open  her  letter,  there  might  be  no  more 
trouble  about  it,  for  I  don't  believe  he  would  go 
away  without  leaving  her  his  address.  Isn't  all  this 
charming,  Freddy  ?  And  don't  you  feel  glad  that 
we  came  here  for  our  wedding  tour  ?  Of  course  you 
don't  enjoy  it  as  much  as  I  do,  for  it  can't  seem  so 
natural  to  you  ;  but  you  are  bound  to  like  it.  The 
very  fact  of  my  being  here  should  make  the  place 
delightful  in  your  eyes,  Mr  Null,  even  if  I  have  for 
gotten  all  about  you  ever  since  I  came." 

That  afternoon,  as  Mrs  Null  was  occupying  some 
of  her  continuous  leisure  in  feeding  the  turkeys  at 


44  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

the  back  of  the  house,  she  noticed  two  colored  men 
in  earnest  conversation  with  Isham.  When  they  had 
gone  she  called  to  the  old  man.  "  Uncle  Isham," 
she  said,  "  what  did  those  men  want?  " 

"Tell  you  what  'tis,  Miss  Null,"  said  Isham,  re 
moving  his  shapeless  felt  hat,  "dis  yere  place  is 
gittin'  wus  an'  wus  on  de  careen,  an'  wat's  gwine  to 
happen  if  ole  miss  don'  come  back  is  more'n  I  kin 
tell.  Bar's  no  groun'  ploughed  yit  for  wheat,  an' 
dem  two  han's  been  'gaged  to  come  do  it,  an'  dey 
put  it  off,  an'  put  it  off  till  ole  miss  got  as  mad  as 
hot  coals,  an*  now  at  las'  dey've  come,  an'  she's  not 
h'yar,  an'  nuffin'  can  be  done.  De  wheat'll  be  free 
inches  high  on  ebery  oder  farm  'fore  ole  miss  git 
dem  plough  han's  agin." 

"  That  is  too  bad,  Uncle  Isham,"  said  Mrs  Null. 
"  When  land  that  ought  to  be  ploughed  isn't 
ploughed,  it  all  grows  up  in  old  field  pines,  don't 
it?" 

"  It  don'  do  dat  straight  off,  Miss  Null,"  said  the 
old  negro,  his  gray  face  relaxing  into  a  smile. 

"  No,  I  suppose  not,"  said  she.  "  I  have  heard  that 
it  takes  thirty  years  for  a  whole  forest  of  old  field 
pines  to  grow  up.  But  they  will  do  it  if  the  land 
isn't  ploughed.  Now,  Uncle  Isham,  I  don't  intend 
to  let  everything  be  at  a  standstill  here  just  because 
your  mistress  is  away.  That  is  one  reason  why  I 
feed  the  turkeys.  If  they  died,  or  the  farm  all 
went  wrong,  I  should  feel  that  it  was  partly  my 
fault." 

"  Yaas'm,"  said  Uncle  Isham,  passing  his  hat  from 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  45 

one  hand  to  the  other,  as  he  delivered  himself  a  little 
hesitatingly — "  yaas'm,  if  you  wasn't  h'yar  p'raps 
ole  miss  mought  come  back." 

"  Now,  Uncle  Isham,"  said  Mrs  Null, "  you  mustn't 
think  your  mistress  is  staying  away  on  account 
of  me.  She  left  home,  as  Letty  has  told  me  over 
and  over,  because  your  Master  Junius  came.  Of 
course  she  thinks  he's  here  yet,  and  she  don't  know 
anything  about  me.  But  if  her  affairs  should  go  to 
rack  and  ruin  while  I  am  here  and  able  to  prevent 
it,  I  should  think  it  was  my  fault.  That's  what  I 
mean,  Uncle  Isham.  And  now  this  is  what  I  want 
you  to  do.  I  want  you  to  go  right  after  those 
men,  and  tell  them  to  come  here  as  soon  as  they 
can,  and  begin  to  plough.  Do  you  know  where  the 
ploughing  is  to  be  done  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yaas'm,"  said  Uncle  Isham,  "  dar  ain't  on'y 
one  place  fur  dat.  It's  de  clober  fiel',  ober  dar,  on 
de  udder  side  ob  de  gyarden." 

"  And  what  is  to  be  planted  in  it  ?  "  asked  Mrs 
Null. 

"  Ob  course  dey's  gwine  to  plough  for  wheat,"  an 
swered  Uncle  Isham,  a  little  surprised  at  the  ques 
tion. 

"  I  don't  altogether  like  that,"  said  Mrs  Null,  her 
brows  slightly  contracting.  "  I've  read  a  great  deal 
about  the  foolishness  of  Southern  people  planting 
wheat.  They  can't  compete  with  the  great  wheat 
farms  of  the  West,  which  sometimes  cover  a  whole 
county,  and,  of  course,  having  so  much,  they  can, 
afford  to  sell  it  a  great  deal  cheaper  than  you  can 


46  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

here.  And  yet  you  go  on,  year  after  year,  paying 
every  cent  you  can  rake  and  scrape  for  fertilizing- 
drugs,  and  getting  about  a  teacupf ul  of  wheat, — that 
is,  proportionately  speaking.  I  don't  think  this  sort 
of  thing  should  continue,  Uncle  Isham.  It  would  be 
a  great  deal  better  to  plough  that  field  for  pickles. 
Now  there  is  a  steady  market  for  pickles,  and,  so 
far  as  I  know,  there  are  no  pickle  farms  in  the 
West." 

"  Pickles !  "  ejaculated  the  astonished  Isham. 
"  Do  you  mean,  Miss  Null,  to  put  dat  fiel'  down  in 
kukumbers  at  dis  time  o'  yeah  ?  " 

"Well,"  said  Mrs  Null,  thoughtfully,  "I  don't 
know  that  I  feel  authorized  to  make  the  change  at 
present,  but  I  do  know  that  the  things  that  pay 
most  are  small  fruits,  and  if  you  people  down  here 
would  pay  more  attention  to  them  you  would  make 
more  money.  But  the  land  must  be  ploughed,  and 
then  we'll  see  about  planting  it  afterward ;  your 
mistress  will,  probably,  be  home  in  time  for  that. 
You  go  after  the  men,  and  tell  them  I  shall  expect 
them  to  begin  the  first  thing  in  the  morning.  And 
if  there  is  anything  else  to  be  done  on  the  farm,  you 
come  and  tell  me  about  it  to-morrow.  I'm  going  to 
take  the  responsibility  on  myself  to  see  that  matters 
go  on  properly  until  your  mistress  returns." 

Letty  and  her  son,  Plez,  occupied  a  cabin  not  far 
from  the  house,  while  Uncle  Isham  lived  alone  in  a 
much  smaller  tenement,  near  the  barn  and  chicken 
house.  That  evening  he  went  over  to  Letty 's,  tak 
ing  with  him,  as  a  burnt  offering,  a  partially  con- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  47 

sumed  and  still  glowing  log  of  hickory  wood  from 
his  own  hearth-stone.  "  Jes'  lemme  tell  you  dis 
h'yar,  Letty,"  said  he,  after  making  up  the  fire  and 
seating  himself  on  a  stool  near  by,  "  ef  you  want  to 
see  ole  miss  come  back  rarin'  an'  chargin',  jes'  you 
let  her  know  dat  Miss  Null  is  gwine  ter  plough  de 
clober  fiel'  for  pickles." 

"  Wot's  dat  fool  talk  ?  "  asked  Letty. 

"  Miss  Null's  gwine  to  boss  dis  farm,  dat's  all," 
said  Isham.  "  She  tole  me  so  herse'f,  an'  ef  she's 
lef  alone  she's  gwine  ter  do  it  city  fashion.  But 
one  thing's  sartin  shuh,  Letty,  if  ole  miss  do  fin'  out 
wot's  gwine  on,  she'll  be  back  h'yar  in  no  time ! 
She  know  well  'nuf  dat  dat  Miss  Null  ain't  got  no 
right  to  come  an'  boss  dis  h'yar  farm.  Who's  she, 
anyway?" 

"  Dunno,"  answered  Letty.  "  I  done  ax  her 
six  or  seben  time,  but  'pears  like  I  dunno  wot  she 
mean  when  she  tell  me.  P'raps  she's  one  o'  ole 
miss'  little  gal  babies  growed  up.  I  tell  you,  Uncle 
Isham,  she  know  dis  place  jes  as  ef  she  bawn  h'yar." 

Uncle  Isham  looked  steadily  into  the  fire  and 
rubbed  the  sides  of  his  head  with  his  big  black 
fingers.  "  Ole  miss  nebber  had  no  gal  baby  'cept 
one,  an'  dat  died  when  'twas  mighty  little." 

"  Does  you  reckon  she  kill  her  ef  she  come  back 
an'  fin'  her  no  kin?"  asked  Letty. 

Uncle  Isham  pushed  his  stool  back  and  started  to 
his  feet  with  a  noise  which  woke  Plez,  who  had 
been  soundly  sleeping  on  the  other  side  of  the  fire 
place  ;  and  striding  to  the  door,  the  old  man  went 


48  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

out  into  the  open  air.  Returning  in  less  than  a 
minute,  he  put  his  head  into  the  doorway  and  ad 
dressed  the  astonished  woman  who  had  turned 
around  to  look  after  him.  "Look  h'yar,  you  Letty, 
I  don'  want  to  hear  no  sech  fool  talk  'bout  ole  miss. 
You  dunno  ole  miss,  nohow.  You  only  come  h'yar 
seben  year  ago  when  dat  Plez  was  trottin'  roun'  wid 
nuffin  but  a  little  meal  bag  for  clothes.  Mahs'  John 
had  been  dead  a  long  time  den  ;  you  nebber  knowed 
Mahs'  John.  You  nebber  was  woke  up  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  mawnin  wid  de  crack  ob  a  pistol,  an' 
run  out  'spectin'  'twas  somebody  stealin  chickens  an' 
Mahs'  John  firm'  at  'em,  an'  see  ole  miss  a  cuttin' 
for  de  road  gate  wid  her  white  night-gown  a  floppin' 
in  de  win'  behind  her,  an'  when  we  got  out  to  de 
gate  dar  we  see  Mahs'  John  a  stannin'  up  agin  de 
pos',  not  de  pos'  wid  de  hinges  on,  but  de  pos'  wid 
de  hook  on,  an'  a  hole  in  de  top  ob  de  head  which 
he  made  hese'f  wid  de  pistol.  One-eyed  Jim  see  de 
whole  thing.  He  war  stealin'  cohn  in  de  fiel'  on  de 
udder  side  de  road.  He  see  Mahs'  John  come  out 
wid  de  pistol,  an'  he  lay  low.  Not  dat  it  war  Mahs' 
John's  cohn  dat  he  was  stealin',  but  he  knowed  well 
'nuf  dat  Mahs'  John  take  jes'  as  much  car'  o'  he 
neighbus  cohn  as  he  own.  An'  den  he  see  Mahs' 
John  stan'  up  agin  de  pos'  an'  shoot  de  pistol,  an' 
he  see  Mahs'  John's  soul  come  right  out  de  hole  in 
de  top  ob  his  head  an'  go  straight  up  to  heben  like 
a  sky-racket." 

"  Wid  a  whizz  ?"  asked  the  open-eyed  Letty." 
"  Like  a  sky-racket,  I  tell  you,"  continued  the  old 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  49 

man,  "  an'  den  me  an'  ole  miss  come  up.  She  jes' 
tuk  one  look  at  him  and  then  she  said  in  a  wice, 
not  like  she  own  wice,  but  like  Mahs'  John's  wice, 
wot  had  done  gone  forebber:  'You  Jim,  come  out 
o'  dat  cohn  and  help  carry  him  in  ! '  And  we  free 
carried  him  in.  An'  you  dunno  ole  miss,  nohow, 
an'  I  don'  want  to  hear  no  fool  talk  from  you, 
Letty,  'bout  her.  Jes'  you  'member  dat !  " 

And  with  this  Uncle  Isham  betook  himself  to  the 
solitude  of  his  own  cabin. 

"  Well,"  said  Letty  to  herself,  as  she  rose  and  ap 
proached  the  bed  in  the  corner  of  the  room,  "  Ise 
pow'ful  glad  dat  somebody's  gwine  to  take  de  key 
bahsket,  for  I  nebber  goes  inter  dat  sto'-room  by 
myse'f  widout  tremblin'  all  froo  my  back  bone  fear 
ole  miss  come  back,  an'  fin'  me  dar  'lone." 


CHAPTER  V. 

WHEN  Lawrence  Croft  now  took  his  afternoon 
walks  in  the  city,  he  was  very  glad  to  wear  a  light 
overcoat,  and  to  button  it,  too.  But,  although  the 
air  was  getting  a  little  nipping  in  New  York,  he 
knew  that  it  must  still  be  balmy  and  enjoyable  in 
Virginia.  He  had  never  been  down  there  at  this 
season,  but  he  had  heard  about  the  Virginia  au 
tumns,  and,  besides  he  had  seen  a  lady  who  had  had 
a  letter  from  Roberta  March.  In  this  letter  Miss 
March  had  written  that  as  her  father  intended  mak 
ing  a  trip  to  Texas,  and,  therefore,  would  not  come 
to  New  York  as  early  as  usual,  she  would  stay  at 
least  a  month  longer  with  her  Uncle  Brandon ;  and 
she  was  glad  to  do  it,  for  the  weather  was  perfectly 
lovely,  and  she  could  stay  out-of-doors  all  day  if  she 
wanted  to. 

Lawrence's  walks,  although  very  invigorating  on 
account  of  the  fine,  sharp  air,  were  not  entirely  cheer 
ing,  for  they  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  think  that 
he  was  making  no  progress  whatever  in  his  attempt 
to  study  the  character  of  Junius  Keswick.  He  had 
intrusted  the  search  for  that  gentleman's  address  to 
Mr  Candy's  cashier,  who  had  informed  him,  most 
opportunely,  that  she  was  about  to  set  out  on  a 
wedding  tour,  and  that  she  had  possessed  herself  of 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  51 

clues  of  much  value  which  could  be  readily  followed 
up  in  connection  with  the  projected  journey.  But  a 
fortnight  or  more  had  elapsed  without  his  hearing 
anything  from  her,  and  he  had  come  to  the  con 
clusion  that  hymeneal  joys  must  have  driven  all 
thoughts  of  business  out  of  her  little  head. 

After  hearing  that  Roberta  March  intended  pro 
tracting  her  stay  in  the  country  the  desire  came  to 
him  to  go  down  there  himself.  He  would  like  to 
have  the  novel  experience  of  that  region  in  autumn, 
and  he  would  like  to  see  Roberta,  but  he  could  not 
help  acknowledging  to  himself  that  the  proceeding 
would  scarcely  be  a  wise  one,  especially  as  he  must 
go  without  the  desired  safeguard  of  knowing  what 
kind  of  man  Miss  March  had  once  been  willing  to 
accept.  He  felt  that  if  he  went  down  to  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Midbranch  one  of  the  battles  of  his  life 
would  begin,  and  that  when  he  held  up  before  him 
his  figurative  shield,  he  would  see  in  its  inner  mirror 
that,  on  account  of  his  own  disposition  toward  the 
lady,  he  was  in  a  condition  of  great  peril.  But,  for 
all  that,  he  wanted  very  much  to  go,  and  no  one  will 
be  surprised  to  learn  that  he  did  go. 

He  was  a  little  embarrassed  at  first  in  regard  to 
the  pretext  which  he  should  make  to  himself  for 
such  a  journey.  Whatever  satisfactory  excuse  he 
could  make  to  himself  in  this  case  would,  of  course, 
do  for  other  people.  Although  he  was  not  prone  to 
make  excuses  for  his  conduct  to  other  people  in 
general,  he  knew  he  would  have  to  give  some  reason 
to  Mr  Brandon  and  Miss  Roberta  for  his  return  to 


52  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Virginia  so  soon  after  having  left  it.  He  deter 
mined  to  make  a  visit  to  the  mountains  of  North 
Carolina,  and  as  Midbranch  would  lie  in  his  way,  of 
course  he  would  stop  there.  This  he  assured  himself 
was  not  a  subterfuge.  It  was  a  very  sensible  thing 
to  do.  He  had  a  good  deal  of  time  on  his  hands 
before  the  city  season,  at  least  for  him,  would  begin, 
and  he  had  read  that  the  autumn  was  an  admirable 
time  to  visit  the  country  of  the  French  Broad. 
How  long  a  stop  he  would  make  at  Midbranch 
would  be  determined  by  circumstances.  He  was 
sorry  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  look  upon  Miss 
Roberta  with  the  advantage  of  knowing  her  former 
lover,  but  it  was  something  to  know  that  she  had 
had  a  lover.  With  this  fact  in  his  mind  he  would 
be  able  to  form  a  better  estimate  of  her  than  he 
had  formed  before. 

The  man  who  lived  in  the  cottage  at  the  Green 
Sulphur  Springs  was  somewhat  surprised  when  Mr 
Croft  arrived  there,  and  desired  to  make  arrange 
ments,  as  before,  for  board,  and  the  use  of  a  saddle 
horse.  But,  although  it  was  not  generally  con 
ceded,  this  man  knew  very  well  that  there  was  no 
water  in  the  world  so  suitable  to  remedy  the  wear 
and  tear  of  a  city  life  as  that  of  the  Green  Sulphur 
Springs,  and  therefore  nobody  could  consider  the 
young  gentleman  foolish  for  coming  back  again 
while  the  season  permitted. 

Lawrence  arrived  at  his  cottage  in  the  morning ; 
and  early  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  he  rode 
over  to  Midbranch.  He  found  the  country  a  good 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  53 

deal  changed,  and  he  did  not  like  the  changes.  His 
road,  which  ran  for  much  of  its  distance  through  the 
woods,  was  covered  with  leaves,  some  green,  and 
some  red  and  yellow,  and  he  did  not  fancy  the 
peculiar  smell  of  these  leaves,  which  reminded  him, 
in  some  way,  of  that  gathering  together  of  the  char 
acters  in  old-fashioned  comedies  shortly  before  the 
fall  of  the  curtain.  In  many  places  where  there 
used  to  be  a  thick  shade,  the  foliage  was  now  quite 
thin,  and  through  it  he  could  see  a  good  deal  of  the 
sky.  The  Virginia  creepers,  or  "  poison  oaks,"  which 
ever  they  were,  were  growing  red  upon  the  trunks 
of  the  trees  as  if  they  had  been  at  table  too  long 
and  showed  it,  and  when  he  rode  out  of  the  woods 
he  saw  that  the  fields,  which  he  remembered  as  wide, 
swelling  slopes  of  green,  with  cattle  and  colts  feed 
ing  here  and  there,  were  now  being  ploughed  into 
corrugated  stretches  of  monotonous  drab  and  brown. 
If  he  had  been  there  through  all  the  gradual  changes 
of  the  season,  he,  probably,  would  have  enjoyed  them 
as  much  as  people  ordinarily  do  ;  but  coming  back 
in  this  way,  the  altered  landscape  slightly  shocked 
him. 

When  he  had  turned  into  the  Midbranch  gate, 
but  was  still  a  considerable  distance  from  the  house, 
he  involuntarily  stopped  his  horse.  He  could  see 
the  broad  steps  which  crossed  the  fence  of  the  lawn, 
and  on  one  side  of  the  platform  on  the  top  sat  a 
lady  whom  he  instantly  recognized  as  Miss  Roberta  ; 
and  on  the  other  side  of  the  platform  sat  a  gentle 
man.  These  two  occupied  very  much  the  same 


54  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

positions  as  Lawrence,  himself,  and  Miss  March 
had  occupied  when  we  first  became  acquainted  with 
them.  Lawrence  looked  very  sharply  and  earnestly 
at  the  gentleman.  Could  it  be  Mr  Brandon  ?  No, 
it  was  a  much  younger  person. 

His  first  impulse  was  to  turn  and  ride  away,  but 
this  would  be  silly  and  unmanly,  and  he  continued 
his  way  to  the  stile.  His  disposition  to  treat  the 
matter  with  contempt  made  him  feel  how  important 
the  matter  was  to  him.  The  gentleman  on  the  plat 
form  first  saw  Lawrence,  and  announced  to  the  lady 
that  some  one  was  coming.  Miss  March  turned 
around,  and  then  rose  to  her  feet. 

"  Upon  my  word !  "  she  exclaimed,  elevating  her 
eyebrows  a  good  deal  more  than  was  usual  with 
her,  "  if  that  isn't  Mr  Croft  !  " 

"  Who  is  he?  "  asked  the  other,  also  rising. 

"  He  is  a  New  York  gentleman  whom  I  know 
very  well.  He  was  down  here  last  summer,  but  I 
can't  imagine  what  brings  him  here  again." 

Lawrence  dismounted,  tied  his  horse,  and  ap 
proached  the  steps.  Miss  Roberta  welcomed  him 
cordially,  coming  down  a  little  way  to  shake  hands 
with  him.  Then  she  introduced  the  two  gentlemen. 

"  Mr  Croft,"  she  said,  let  me  make  you  ac 
quainted  with  Mr  Keswick." 

The  afternoon,  or  the  portion  of  it  that  was  left, 
was  spent  on  the  porch,  Mr  Brandon  joining  the 
party.  It  was  to  him  that  Lawrence  chiefly  talked, 
for  the  most  part  about  the  game  and  scenery  of 
North  Carolina,  with  which  the  old  gentleman  was 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  55 

quite  familiar.  But  Lawrence  had  sufficient  regard 
for  himself  and  his  position  in  the  eyes  of  this 
family,  to  help  make  a  good  deal  of  general  con 
versation.  What  he  said  or  heard,  however,  occu 
pied  only  the  extreme  corners  of  his  mind,  the  main 
portion  of  which  was  entirely  filled  with  the  chilling 
fear  that  that  man  might  be  the  Keswick  he  was 
looking  for.  Of  course,  there  was  a  bare  chance 
that  it  was  not,  for  there  might  be  a  numerous 
family,  but  even  this  little  stupid  glimmer  of  com 
fort  was  extinguished  when  Mr  Brandon  familiarly 
addressed  the  gentleman  as  "  Junius." 

Lawrence  took  a  good  look  at  the  man  he  was 
anxious  to  study,  and  as  far  as  outward  appearances 
were  concerned  he  could  find  no  fault  with  Roberta 
for  having  accepted  him.  He  was  taller  than  Croft, 
and  not  so  correctly  dressed.  He  seemed  to  be  a  per 
son  whom  one  would  select  as  a  companion  for  a  hunt, 
a  sail,  or  a  talk  upon  Political  Economy.  There  was 
about  him  an  air  of  present  laziness,  but  it  was  also 
evident  that  this  was  a  disposition  that  could  easily 
be  thrown  off. 

Lawrence's  mind  was  not  only  very  much  occupied, 
but  very  much  perturbed.  It  must  have  been  all  a 
mistake  about  the  engagement  having  been  broken 
off.  If  this  had  been  the  case,  the  easy  friendliness 
of  the  relations  between  Keswick  and  the  old  gentle 
man  and  his  niece  would  have  been  impossible.  Once 
or  twice  the  thought  came  to  Lawrence  that  he 
should  congratulate  himself  for  not  having  avowed 
his  feelings  toward  Miss  Roberta  when  he  had  an 


56  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

opportunity  of  doing  so ;  but  his  predominant 
emotion  was  one  of  disgust  with  his  previous  mode 
of  action.  If  he  had  not  weighed  and  considered 
the  matter  so  carefully,  and  had  been  willing  to  take 
his  chances  as  other  men  take  them,  he  would,  at 
least,  have  known  in  what  relation  he  stood  to  Rob 
erta,  and  would  not  have  occupied  the  ridiculous 
position  in  which  he  now  felt  himself  to  be. 

When  he  took  his  leave,  Roberta  went  with  him 
to  the  stile.  As  they  walked  together  across  the 
smooth,  short  grass,  a  new  set  of  emotions  arose  in 
Lawrence's  mind  which  drove  out  every  other. 
They  were  grief,  chagrin,  and  even  rage,  at  not  hav 
ing  won  this  woman.  As  to  actual  speech,  there 
was  nothing  he  could  say,  although  his  soul  boiled 
and  bubbled  within  him  in  his  desire  to  speak.  But 
if  he  had  anything  to  say,  now  was  his  chance,  for 
he  had  told  them  that  he  would  proceed  with  his 
journey  the  next  day. 

Miss  Roberta  had  a  way  of  looking  up,  and  look 
ing  down  at  the  same  time,  particularly  when  she 
had  asked  a  question  and  was  waiting  for  the  answer. 
Her  face  would  be  turned  a  little  down,  but  her  eyes 
would  look  up  and  give  a  very  charming  expression 
to  those  upturned  eyes  ;  and  if  she  happened  to  allow 
the  smile,  with  which  she  ceased  speaking,  to  remain 
upon  her  pretty  lips,  she  generally  had  an  answer  of 
some  sort  very  soon.  If  for  no  other  reason,  it 
would  be  given  that  she  might  ask  another  question. 
It  was  in  this  manner  she  said  to  Lawrence :  "  Do 
you  really  go  away  from  us  to-morrow?  " 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  57 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  shall  push  on." 

"  Do  you  not  find  the  country  very  beautiful  at 
this  season  ?  "  asked  Miss  Roberta,  after  a  few  steps 
in  silence. 

"  I  don't  like  autumn,"  answered  Lawrence. 
"  Everything  is  drying  up  and  dying.  I  would 
rather  see  things  dead." 

Roberta  looked  at  him  without  turning  her  head. 
"  But  it  will  be  just  as  bad  in  North  Carolina,"  she 
said. 

"  There  is  an  autumn  in  ourselves,"  he  answered, 
"  just  as  much  as  there  is  in  Nature.  I  won't  see 
so  much  of  that  down  there." 

"  In  some  cases,"  said  Roberta,  slowly,  "autumn 
is  impossible." 

They  had  reached  the  bottom  of  the  steps,  and 
Lawrence  turned  and  looked  toward  her.  "  Do  you 
mean,"  he  asked,  "  when  there  has  been  no  real 
summer?  " 

Roberta  laughed.  "  Of  course,"  said  she,  "  if  there 
has  been  no  summer  there  can  be  no  autumn.  But 
you  know  there  are  places  where  it  is  summer  all 
the  time.  Would  you  like  to  live  in  such  a  clime  ?  " 

Lawrence  Croft  put  one  foot  on  the  step,  and 
then  he  drew  it  back.  "  Miss  March,"  said  he,  "  my 
train  does  not  leave  until  the  afternoon,  and  I  am 
coming  over  here  in  the  morning  to  have  one  more 
walk  in  the  woods  with  you.  May  I  ?  " 

"Certainly,"  she  said,  "  I  shall  be  delighted  ;  that 
is,  if  you  can  overlook  the  fact  that  it  is  autumn." 

When  Miss   Roberta   returned   to  the  house   she 


58  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

found  Junius  Keswick  sitting  on  a  bench  on  the 
porch.  She  went  over  to  him,  and  took  a  seat  at 
the  other  end  of  the  bench. 

"  So  your  gentleman  is  gone/'  he  said. 

"  Yes,"  she  answered,  "  but  only  for  the  present. 
He  is  coming  back  in  the  morning." 

"  What  for  ?  "  asked  Keswick,  a  little  abruptly. 

Miss  Roberta  took  off  her  hat,  for  there  was  no 
need  of  a  hat  on  a  shaded  porch,  and  holding  it  by 
the  ribbons,  she  let  it  gently  slide  down  toward  her 
feet.  "  He  is  coming,"  she  said,  speaking  rather 
slowly,  "  to  take  a  walk  with  me,  and  I  know  very 
well  that  when  we  have  reached  some  place  where 
he  is  sure  there  is  no  one  to  hear  him,  he  is  going 
to  tell  me  that  he  loves  me ;  that  he  did  not  intend 
to  speak  quite  so  soon,  but  that  circumstances  have 
made  it  impossible  for  him  to  restrain  himself  any 
longer,  and  he  will  ask  me  to  be  his  wife." 

"  And  what  are  you  going  to  say  to  him  ?  "  asked 
Keswick. 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Roberta,  her  eyes  fixed 
upon  the  hat  which  she  still  held  by  its  long  rib 
bons. 

The  next  morning  Junius  Keswick,  who  had  been 
up  a  long,  long  time  before  breakfast,  sat,  after  that 
meal,  looking  at  Roberta  who  was  reading  a  book  in 
the  parlor.  "  She  is  a  strange  girl,"  thought  he.  "  I 
cannot  understand  her.  How  is  it  possible  that  she 
can  sit  there  so  placidly  reading  that  volume  of 
Huxley,  which  I  know  she  never  saw  before  and 
which  she  has  opened  just  about  the  middle,  on  a 


•  The  Late  Mrs  Null.  59 

morning  when  she  is  expecting  a  man  who  will  say 
things  to  her  which  may  change  her  whole  life.  I 
could  almost  imagine  that  she  has  forgotten  all 
about  it." 

Peggy,  who  had  just  entered  the  room  to  inform 
her  mistress  that  Aunt  Judy  was  ready  for  her, 
stood  in  rigid  uprightness,  her  torpid  eyes  settled 
upon  the  lady.  "  I  reckon,"  so  ran  the  thought 
within  the  mazes  of  her  dark  little  interior,  u  dat 
Miss  Rob's  wuss  disgruntled  dan  she  was  dat 
ebenin'  when  I  make  my  cake,  fur  she  got  two 
dif'ent  kinds  o'  shoes  on." 

The  morning  went  on,  and  Keswick  found  that 
he  must  go  out  again  for  a  walk,  although  he  had 
rambled  several  miles  before  breakfast.  After  her 
household  duties  had  been  completed,  Miss  Roberta 
took  her  book  out  to  the  porch  ;  and  about  noon 
when  her  uncle  came  out  and  made  some  remarks 
upon  the  beauty  of  the  day,  she  turned  over  the 
page  at  which  she  had  opened  the  volume  just  after 
breakfast.  An  hour  later  Peggy  brought  her  some 
luncheon,  and  felt  it  to  be  her  duty  to  inform  Miss 
Rob  that  she  still  wore  one  old  boot  and  a  new 
one.  When  Roberta  returned  to  the  porch  after 
making  a  suitable  change,  she  found  Keswick  there 
looking  a  little  tired. 

"  Has  your  friend  gone  ? "  he  asked,  in  a  very 
quiet  tone. 

"  He  has  not  come  yet,"  she  answered. 

"  Not  come  !  "  exclaimed  Keswick.  "  That's  odd  ! 
However,  there  are  two  hours  yet  before  dinner." 


60  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

The  two  hours  passed  and  no  Lawrence  Croft 
appeared  ;  nor  came  he  at  all  that  day.  About 
dusk  the  man  at  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs  rode 
over  with  a  note  from  Mr  Croft.  The  note  was  to 
Miss  March,  of  course,  and  it  simply  stated  that 
the  writer  was  very  sorry  he  could  not  keep  the 
appointment  he  had  made  with  her,  but  that  it 
had  suddenly  become  necessary  for  him  to  return 
to  the  North  without  continuing  the  journey  he 
had  planned  ;  that  he  was  much  grieved  to  be  de 
prived  of  the  opportunity  of  seeing  her  again ;  but 
that  he  would  give  himself  the  pleasure,  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment,  of  calling  on  Miss  March 
when  she  arrived  in  New  York. 

When  Miss  Roberta  had  read  this  note  she  handed 
it  to  Keswick,  who,  when  he  returned  it,  asked  : 
"  Does  that  suit  you  ?  " 

4<  No/'  said  she,  "  it  does  not  suit  me  at  all." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IT  was  mail  day  at  the  very  small  village  known 
as  Hewlett's,  and  to  the  fence  in  front  of  the  post- 
office  were  attached  three  mules  and  a  horse.  In 
side  the  yard,  tied  to  the  low  bough  of  a  tree,  was  a 
very  lean  and  melancholy  horse,  on  which  had  lately 
arrived  Wesley  Green,  the  negro  man  who,  twice  a 
week,  brought  the  mail  from  Pocohontas,  a  railway 
station,  twenty  miles  away.  There  was  a  station 
not  six  miles  from  Hewlett's,  but,  for  some  reason, 
the  mail  bag  was  always  brought  from  and  carried  to 
Pocohontas ;  Wesley  Green  requiring  a  whole  day 
for  a  deliberate  transit  between  the  two  points. 

In  the  post-office,  which  was  the  front  room  of  a 
small  wooden  house  approached  by  a  high  flight  of 
steps,  was  the  postmistress,  Miss  Harriet  Corvey, 
who  sat  on  the  floor  in  one  corner,  while  before  her 
extended  a  semicircle  of  men  and  boys.  In  this 
little  assemblage  certain  elderly  men  occupied  seats 
which  were  considered  to  belong  to  them  quite  as 
much  as  if  they  had  been  hired  pews  in  a  church, 
and  behind  them  stood  up  a  row  of  tall  young  men 
and  barefooted  boys  of  the  neighborhood,  while, 
farthest  in  the  rear,  were  some  quiet  little  darkies 
with  mail  bags  slung  across  their  shoulders. 

On  a  chair  to   the  right,  and   most   convenient  to 


62  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Miss  Harriet,  sat  old  Madison  Chalkley,  the  biggest 
and  most  venerable  citizen  of  the  neighborhood.  Mr 
Chalkley  never,  by  any  chance,  got  a  letter,  the  only 
mail  matter  he  received  being,  "  The  Southern  Bap 
tist  Recorder,"  which  came  on  Saturdays,  but,  like 
most  of  the  people  present,  he  was  at  the  post- 
office  every  mail  day  to  see  who  got  anything.  Next 
to  him  sat  Colonel  Iston,  a  tall,  lean,  quiet  old 
gentleman,  who  had,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  oc 
cupied  the  position  of  a  last  apple  on  a  tree.  He 
had  no  relatives,  no  friends  with  whom  he  corre 
sponded,  no  business  that  was  not  conducted  by 
word  of  mouth.  In  the  last  fifteen  years  he  had  re 
ceived  but  one  letter,  and  that  had  so  surprised  him 
that  he  carried  it  about  with  him  three  days  before 
he  opened  it,  and  then  he  found  that  it  was  really 
intended  for  a  gentleman  of  the  same  name  in 
another  county.  And  yet  everybody  knew  that  if 
Colonel  Iston  failed  to  appear  in  his  place  on  mail 
day,  it  would  be  because  he  was  dead  or  prostrated 
by  sickness. 

With  the  mail  bag  on  the  floor  at  her  left, 
Miss  Harriet,  totally  oblivious  of  any  law  for 
bidding  the  opening  of  the  mails  in  public,  would 
put  her  hand  into  its  open  mouth,  draw  forth  a  letter 
or  a  paper,  hold  it  up  in  front  of  her  spectacles,  and 
call  out  the  name  of  its  owner.  Most  of  the  letters 
went  to  the  black  boys  with  the  mail  bags  who  came 
from  country  houses  in  the  neighborhood,  but  who 
ever  received  letter,  journal,  or  agricultural  circular, 
received  also  at  the  same  time  the  earnest  gaze  of 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  63 

everybody  else  in  the  room.  Sometimes  there  was 
a  letter  for  which  there  was  no  applicant  present 
and  then  Miss  Harriet  would  say  :  "  Is  anybody  go 
ing  past  Mrs  Willis  Summerses  ?  "  And  if  any 
body  was,  he  would  take  the  letter,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  he  remembered  to  deliver  it  in  the  course  of  a 
week. 

In  spite  of  the  precautions  of  the  postmistress 
uncalled  for  letters  would  gradually  accumulate, 
and  there  was  a  little  bundle  of  these  in  one  of  the 
few  pigeon  holes  in  a  small  desk  in  the  corner  of  the 
room,  in  the  drawer  of  which  the  postage  stamps 
were  kept.  Now  and  then  a  registered  letter  would 
arrive,  and  this  always  created  considerable  sensa 
tion  in  the  room,  and  if  the  legal  recipient  did  not 
happen  to  be  present,  Miss  Harriet  never  breathed 
a  quiet  breath  until  he  or  she  had  been  sent  for,  had 
taken  the  letter,  and  given  her  a  receipt.  Sometimes 
she  sat  up  as  late  as  eleven  o'clock  at  night  on  mail 
days,  hoping  that  some  one  who  had  been  sent  for 
would  arrive  to  relieve  her  of  a  registered  letter. 

All  the  mail  matter  had  been  distributed,  every 
body  but  Mr  Madison  Chalkley  had  left  the  room  ; 
and  when  the  old  gentleman,  as  was  his  wont  on 
the  first  day  of  the  month,  had  gone  up  to  the  desk, 
untied  the  bundle  of  uncalled-for  letters,  the  outer 
ones  permanently  rounded  by  the  tightness  of  the 
cord,  and  after  carefully  looking  over  them,  one  by 
one,  had  made  his  usual  remark  about  the  folly  of 
people  who  wouldn't  stay  in  a  place  until  their 
letters  could  get  to  them,  had  tied  up  the  bundle 


64  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

and  taken  his  departure;  then  Miss  Harriet  put  the 
empty  mail  bag  under  the  desk,  and  went  up-stairs 
where  an  old  lady  sat  by  the  window,  sewing  in  the 
fading  light. 

"  No  letters  for  you  to-day,  Mrs  Keswick,"  said 
she. 

"  Of  course  not,"  was  the  answer,  "  I  didn't  ex 
pect  any." 

"  Don't  you  think,"  said  Miss  Harriet,  taking  a 
seat  opposite  the  old  lady,  "  that  it  is  about  time 
for  you  to  go  home  and  attend  to  your  affairs  ?  " 

"  Well,  upon  my  word  !  "  said  Mrs  Keswick,  let 
ting  her  hands  and  her  work  fall  in  her  lap,  "  that's 
truly  hospitable.  I  didn't  expect  it  of  you,  Harriet 
Corvey." 

"  I  wouldn't  have  said  it,"  returned  the  postmis 
tress,  "  if  I  hadn't  felt  dead  certain  that  you  knew 
you  were  always  welcome  here.  But  Tony  Miles 
told  me,  just  before  the  mail  came  in,  that  the  lady 
who's  at  your  place  is  running  it  herself,  and  that 
she's  going  to  use  pickle  brine  for  a  fertilizer." 

"  Very  likely,"  said  Mrs  Keswick,  her  face  totally 
unmoved  by  this  intelligence — "  very  likely.  That's 
the  way  they  used  to  do  in  ancient  times,  or  some 
thing  of  the  same  kind.  They  used  to  sow  salt 
over  their  enemy's  land  so  that  nothing  would  ever 
grow  there.  That  woman's  family  has  sowed  salt 
over  the  lands  of  me  and  mine  for  three  generations, 
and  it's  quite  natural  she  should  come  here  to  finish 
up." 

There  was  a  little  silence  after  this,  and  then  Miss 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  65 

Harriet  remarked  :  "Your  people  must  know  where 
you  are.  Why  don't  they  come  and  tell  you  about 
these  things  ?  " 

"  They  know  better/'  answered  Mrs  Keswick, 
with  a  grim  smile.  "  I  went  away  once  before,  and 
Uncle  Isham  hunted  me  up,  and  he  got  a  lesson 
that  he'll  never  forget.  When  I  want  them  to 
know  where  I  am,  I'll  tell  them." 

"  But  really  and  truly  " — said  Miss  Harriet  "  and 
you  know  I  only  speak  to  you  for  your  own  good, 
for  you  pay  your  board  here,  and  if  you  didn't 
you'd  be  just  as  welcome — do  you  intend  to  keep 
away  from  your  own  house  as  long  as  that  lady 
chooses  to  stay  there  ?  " 

"  Exactly  so  long,"  answered  the  old  lady.  "  I 
shall  not  keep  them  out  of  my  house  if  they  choose 
to  come  to  it.  No  member  of  my  family  ever  did 
that.  There  is  the  house,  and  they  are  free  to  enter 
it,  but  they  shall  not  find  me  there.  If  there  was 
any  reason  to  believe  that  everything  was  dropped 
and  done  with,  I  would  be  as  glad  to  see  him  as  any 
body  could  be,  but  I  knew  from  his  letter  just  what 
he  was  going  to  say  when  he  came,  and  as  things 
have  turned  out,  I  see  that  it  was  all  worse  than  I 
expected.  He  and  Roberta  March  were  both  com 
ing,  and  they  thought  that  together  they  could 
talk  me  down,  and  make  me  forgive  and  be  happy, 
and  all  that  stuff.  But  as  I  wasn't  there,  of  course 
he  wouldn't  stay,  and  so  there  she  is  now  by  herself. 
She  thinks  I  must  come  home  after  a  while,  and  the 
minute  I  do  that,  back  he'll  come,  and  then  they'll 
5 


66  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

have  just  what  they  wanted.  But  I  reckon  she'll 
find  that  I  can  stick  it  out  just  as  long  as  she  can.  If 
Roberta  March  turns  things  upside  down  there,  it'll 
be  because  she  can't  keep  her  hands  out  of  mischief, 
and  that  proves  that  she  belongs  to  her  own  family. 
If  there's  any  harm  done,  it  don't  matter  so  much 
to  me,  and  it  will  be  worse  for  him  in  the  end. 
And  now,  Harriet  Corvey,  if  you've  got  to  make  up 
the  mail  to  go  away  early  in  the  morning,  you'd  bet 
ter  have  supper  over  and  get  about  it." 

Meanwhile,  at  Mrs  Keswick's  house  Mrs  Null 
was  acting  just  as  conscientiously  as  she  knew  how. 
She  had  had  some  conversations  with  Freddy  on  the 
subject,  and  she  had  assured  him,  and  at  the  same 
time  herself,  that  what  she  was  doing  was  the  only 
thing  that  could  be  done.  "  It  was  dreadfully  hard 
for  me  to  get  the  money  to  come  down  here,"  she 
said  to  him, — "  you  not  helping  me  a  bit,  as  ordinary 
husbands  do — and  I  can't  afford  to  go  back  until  I 
have  accomplished  something.  It's  very  strange 
that  she  stays  away  so  long,  without  telling  anybody 
where  she  has  gone  to,  but  I  know  she  is  queer,  and 
I  suppose  she  has  her  own  reasons  for  what  she 
does.  She  can't  be  staying  away  on  my  account, 
for  she  doesn't  know  who  I  am,  and  wouldn't  have 
any  objections  to  me  if  she  did  know.  I  suspect  it 
is  something  about  Junius  which  keeps  her  away, 
and  I  suppose  she  thinks  he  is  still  here.  But  one 
of  them  must  soon  come  back,  and  if  I  can  see  him, 
or  find  out  from  her  where  he  is,  it  will  be  all  right. 
It  seems  to  me,  Freddy,  that  if  I  could  have  a  good 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  67 

talk  with  Junius  things  would  begin  to  look  better 
for  you  and  me.  And  then  I  want  to  put  him  on 
his  guard  about  this  gentleman  who  is  looking  for 
him.  By  the  way,  I  suppose  I  ought  to  write  a 
letter  to  Mr  Croft,  or  he'll  think  I  have  given  up 
the  job,  and  will  set  somebody  else  on  the  track,  and 
that  is  what  I  don't  want  him  to  do.  I  can't  say 
that  I  have  positively  anything  to  report,  but  I  can 
say  that  I  have  strong  hopes  of  success,  considering 
where  I  am.  As  soon  as  I  found  that  Junius  had 
really  left  the  North,  I  concluded  that  this  would 
be  the  best  place  to  come  to  for  him.  And  now, 
Freddy,  there's  nothing  for  us  to  do  but  to  v/ait,  and 
if  we  can  make  ourselves  useful  here  I'  m  sure  we 
will  be  glad  to  do  it.  We  both  hate  being  lazy,  and 
a  little  housekeeping  and  farm  managing  will  be 
good  practice  for  us  during  our  honeymoon." 

Putting  on  her  hat,  she  went  down  into  the 
garden  where  uncle  Isham  was  at  work.  She  could 
find  little  to  do  there,  for  he  was  merely  pulling 
turnips,  and  she  could  see  nothing  to  suggest  in  re 
gard  to  his  method  of  work.  She  had  found,  too, 
that  the  old  negro  had  not  much  respect  for  her 
agricultural  opinions.  He  attended  to  his  work  as 
if  his  mistress  had  been  at  home,  and  although,  in  re 
gard  to  the  ploughing,  he  had  carried  out  the  orders 
of  Mrs  Null,  he  had  done  it  because  it  ought  to  be 
done,  and  because  he  was  very  glad  for  some  one 
else  to  take  the  responsibility. 

"  Uncle  Isham,"  said  she,  after  she  had  watched 
the  process  of  turnip  pulling  for  a  few  minutes,  "  if 


68  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

you  haven't  anything  else  to  do  when  you  get 
through  with  this,  you  might  come  up  to  the  house, 
and  I  will  talk  to  you  about  the  flower  beds,  I  sup 
pose  they  ought  to  be  made  ready  for  the  winter." 

"  Miss  Null,"  said  the  old  man,  slowly  unbending 
his  back,  and  getting  himself  upright,  "  dar's  allus 
sumfin'  else  to  do.  Eber  sence  I  was  fus'  bawn  dar 
was  sumfin  else  to  do,  an'  I  spec's  it'll  keep  on  dat 
ar  way  till  de  day  I  dies." 

"  Of  course  there  will  be  nothing  else  to  do  then 
but  to  die,"  observed  Mrs  Null  ;  "  but  I  hope  that 
day  is  far  off,  Uncle  I  sham." 

"  Dunno  'bout  dat,  Miss  Null,"  said  he.  "  But 
den  some  people  do  lib  dreffle  long.  Look  at  ole 
Aun'  Patsy.  Ise  got  to  live  a  long  time  afore  I's  as 
ole  as  Aun'  Patsy  is  now." 

"You  don't  mean  to  say,"  exclaimed  Mrs  Null, 
"  that  Aunt  Patsy  is  alive  yet !  " 

"  Ob  course  she  is.  Miss  Null/'  said  Uncle  Isham. 
"  If  she'd  died  sence  you've  been  here  we'd  a  tole 
you,  sartin.  She  was  gwine  to  die  las'  week,  but  two 
or  free  days  don'  make  much  dif'rence  to  Aun' 
Patsy,  she  done  lib  so  long  anyhow." 

"  Aunt  Patsy  alive  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs  Null  again. 
"  I'm  going  straight  off  to  see  her." 

When  she  had  reached  the  house,  and  had  in 
formed  Letty  where  she  was  going,  the  rotund 
maid  expressed  high  approbation  of  the  visit,  and 
offered  to  send  Plez  to  show  Miss  Null  the  way. 

"  I  don't  need  any  one  to  go  with  me,"  said  that 
lady,  and  away  she  started. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  69 

"She  don'  neber  want  nobody  to  show  her  no- 
whar,"  said  Plez,  returning  with  looks  of  much  dis 
approbation  to  his  business  of  peeling  potatoes  for 
dinner. 

When  Mrs  Null  reached  the  cabin  of  Aunt  Patsy, 
after  about  fifteen  minutes'  walk,  she  entered  with 
out  ceremony,  and  found  the  old  woman  sitting  on 
a  very  low  chair  by  the  window,  with  the  much- 
talked-of,  many-colored  quilt  in  her  lap.  Her  white 
woolly  head  was  partially  covered  with  a  red  and 
yellow  handkerchief,  and  an  immense  pair  of  iron- 
bound  spectacles  obstructed  the  view  of  her  small 
black  face,  lined  and  seamed  in  such  a  way  that  it 
appeared  to  have  shrunk  to  half  its  former  size.  In 
her  long,  bony  fingers,  rusty  black  on  the  outside, 
and  a  very  pale  tan  on  the  inside,  she  held  a  coarse 
needle  and  thread  and  a  corner  of  the  quilt.  Near 
by,  in  front  of  a  brick-paved  fireplace,  was  one  of 
her  great-granddaughters,  a  girl  about  eighteen 
years  old,  who  was  down  upon  her  hands  and  knees, 
engaged  with  lungs,  more  powerful  than  ordinary 
bellows,  in  blowing  into  flame  a  coal  upon  the 
hearth. 

"How  d'ye  Aunt  Patsy?"  said  Mrs  Null.  "I 
didn't  expect  to  see  you  looking  so  well." 

"  Dat's  Miss  Null,"  said  the  girl,  raising  her  eyes 
from  the  fire,  and  addressing  her  ancestor. 

The  old  woman  stuck  her  needle  into  the  quilt, 
and  reached  out  her  hand  to  her  visitor,  who  took 
it  cordially. 

"How  d'ye,  miss?"  said  Aunt   Patsy,  in  a  thin 


70  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

but  quite  firm  voice,  while  the  young  woman  got  up 
and  brought  Mrs  Null  a  chair,  very  short  in  the  legs, 
very  high  in  the  back,  and  with  its  split-oak  bottom 
very  much  sunken. 

"  How  are  you  feeling  to-day,  Aunt  Patsy  ?  "  asked 
Mrs  Null,  gazing  with  much  interest  on  the  aged  face. 

"  'Bout  as  common,"  replied  the  old  woman.  "  I 
didn't  spec'  to  be  libin'  dis  week,  but  I  ain't  got  my 
quilt  done  yit,  an'  I  can't  go  'mong  de  angels  wrop 
in  a  shroud  wid  one  corner  off." 

" Certainly  not,"  answered  Mrs  Null.  "Haven't 
you  pieces  enough  to  finish  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yaas,  I  got  bits  enough,  but  de  trouble  is  to 
sew  'em  up.  I  can't  sew  very  fas'  nowadays." 

"  It's  a  pity  for  you  to  have  to  do  it  yourself," 
said  Mrs  Null.  "  Can't  this  young  person,  your 
daughter,  do  it  for  you  ?  " 

"  Dat's  not  my  darter,"  said  the  old  woman. 
"  Dat's  my  son  Tom's  yaller  boy  Bob's  chile.  Bob's 
dead.  She  can't  do  no  sewin'  for  me.  I'm  'not 
gwine  ter  hab  folks  sayin',  Aun'  Patsy  done  got  so 
ole  she  can't  do  her  own  sewin'." 

"If  you  are  not  going  to  die  till  you  get  your 
quilt  finished,  Aunt  Patsy,"  said  Mrs  Null,  "  I  hope 
it  won't  be  done  for  a  long  time." 

"  Don'  do  to  be  waitin'  too  long,  Miss.  De  fus' 
thing  you  know  some  udder  culled  pusson'll  be 
dyin'  wrop  up  in  a  quilt  like  dis,  and  git  dar  fus'. 

Mrs  Null  now  looked  about  her  with  much  in 
terest,  and  asked  many  questions  in  regard  to  the 
old  woman's  comfort  and  ailments.  To  these  the 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  71 

answers,  though  on  the  whole  satisfactory,  were 
quite  short,  Aunt  Patsy,  apparently,  much  prefer 
ring  to  look  at  her  visitor  than  to  talk  to  her.  And 
a  very  pretty  young  woman  she  was  to  look  at,  with 
a  face  which  had  grown  brighter  and  plumper  dur 
ing  every  day  of  her  country  sojourn. 

When  Mrs  Null  had  gone,  promising  to  send 
Aunt  Patsy  something  nice  to  eat,  the  old  woman 
turned  to  her  great-grand-daughter,  and  said,  "  Did 
anybody  come  wid  her?" 

"  Nobody  corned/'  said  the  girl.  "  Reckon'  she 
done  git  herse'f  los'  some  o'  dese  days." 

The  old  woman  made  no  answer,  but  folding  up 
the  maniac  coverlid,  she  handed  it  to  the  girl,  and 
told  her  to  put  it  away. 

That  night  Uncle  Isham,  by  Mrs  Null's  orders, 
carried  to  Aunt  Patsy  a  basket,  containing  various 
good  things  considered  suitable  for  an  aged  colored 
woman  without  teeth. 

"Miss  Annie  sen'  dese  h'yar?"  asked  the  old 
woman,  taking  the  basket  and  lifting  the  lid. 

"  Miss  Annie  !  "  exclaimed  Uncle  Isham.  "  Who 
she  ?  " 

"  Git  out,  Uncle  Isham  !  "  said  Aunt  Patsy,  some 
what  impatiently.  "  She  was  h'yar  dis  mawnin'." 

"Dat  was  Miss  Null,"  said  Isham. 

"  Miss  Annie  all  de  same,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  "  on'y 
growed  up  an'  married.  D'ye  mean  to  stan'  dar, 
Uncle  Isham,  an'  tell  me  you  don'  know  de  little 
gal  wot  Mahs'  John  use  ter  carry  in  he  arms  ter  feed 
de  tukkies?" 


72  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  She  and  she  m udder  dead  long  ago/'  said  Isham. 
"  You  is  pow'ful  ole,  Aun'  Patsy,  an'  you  done  forgit 
dese  things." 

"  Done  forgit  nuffin,"  curtly  replied  the  old  woman. 
"  Don'  tell  me  no  moh'  fool  stuff.  Dat  Miss  Annie, 
growed  up  an'  married." 

"  Did  she  tell  you  dat?"  asked  Isham. 

"  She  didn't  tell  me  nuffin'.  She  kep'  her  mouf 
shet  'bout  dat,  an'  I  kep'  my  mouf  shet.  Don'  talk 
to  me  !  Dat's  Miss  Annie,  shuh  as  shootin'.  Ef  she 
hadn't  fotch  nuffin'  'long  wid  her  but  her  eyes  I'd  a 
knowed  dem  ;  same  ole  eyes  dey  all  had.  An'  'sides 
dat,  you  fool  Isham,  ef  she  not  Miss  Annie,  wot  she 
come  down  h'yar  fur?" 

"  Neber  thinked  o'  dat !  "  said  Uncle  Isham,  re 
flectively.  "  Ef  you's  so  pow'ful  shuh,  Aun'  Patsy, 
I  reckon  dat  is  Miss  Annie.  Couldn't  'spec  me  to 
'member  her.  I  wasn't  much  up  at  de  house  in 
dem  times,  an'  she  was  took  away  'fore  I  give  much 
'tention  ter  her." 

"  Don'  ole  miss  know  she  dar?  "  asked  Aunt  Patsy. 

"  She  dunno  nuffin'  'bout  it,"  answered  Isham. 
"She's  stayin'  away  cos  she  think  Mahs'  Junius  dar 
yit." 

"  Why  don'  you  tell  her,  now  you  knows  it's  Miss 
Annie  wot's  dar?" 

"You  don'  ketch  me  tellin  her  nuffin',"  replied 
the  old  man  shaking  his  head.  "Wish  you  was 
spry  'nuf  ter  go,  Aun'  Patsy.  She'd  b'lieve  you  ; 
an'  she  couldn't  rar  an'  charge  inter  a  ole  pusson 
like  you,  nohow." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  73 

"  Ain't  dar  nobody  else  in  dis  h'yar  place  to  go 
tell  her  ?  "  asked  Aunt  Patsy. 

"  Not  a  pusson,"  was  Isham's  decided  answer. 

"  Well  den  I  is  spry  'nuf  !  "  exclaimed  Aunt  Patsy, 
with  a  vigorous  nod  of  her  head  which  sent  her 
spectacles  down  to  her  mouth,  displaying  a  pair  of 
little  eyes  sparkling  with  a  fire,  long  thought  to  be 
extinct.  "  Ef  you'll  carry  me  dar,  to  Miss  Harriet 
Corvey's,  I'll  tell  ole  miss  myse'f.  I  didn't  'spec  to 
go  out  dat  dohr  till  de  fun'ral,  but  I'll  go  dis  time. 
I  spected  dar  was  sumfin'  crooked  when  Miss  Annie 
didn't  tole  me  who  she  was.  Ise  not  'feared  to  tell 
ole  miss,  an' you  jes'  carry  me  up  dar,  Uncle  Isham." 

"  I'll  do  dat,"  said  the  old  man,  much  delighted 
with  the  idea  of  doing  something  which  he  supposed 
would  remove  the  clouds  which  overhung  the  house 
hold  of  his  mistress.  "  I'll  fotch  de  hoss  an'  de 
spring  waggin  an'  dribe  you  ober  dar." 

"  No,  you  don'  do  no  sech  thing !  "  exclaimed 
Aunt  Patsy,,  angrily.  "  I  ain't  gwine  to  hab  no  hosses 
to  run  away,  an'  chuck  me  out  on  de  road.  Ef  you 
kin  fotch  de  oxen  an'  de  cart,  I  go  'long  wid  you, 
but  I  don'  want  no  hosses." 

"  Dat's  fus'  rate,"  said  Isham.  "  I'll  fotch  de  ox 
cart,  an'  carry  you  ober.  When  you  want  ter  go  ?  " 

"  Dunno  jes'  now,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  pushing 
away  a  block  of  wood  which  served  for  a  footstool, 
and  making  elaborate  preparations  to  rise  from  her 
chair.  "  I'll  sen'  fur  you  when  I's  ready." 

The  next  morning  was  a  very  busy  one  for  Aunt 
Patsy's  son  Tom's  yellow  boy  Bob's  child ;  and  by 


74  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

afternoon  it  was  necessary  to  send  for  two  colored 
women  from  a  neighboring  cabin  to  assist  in  the  pre 
parations  which  Aunt  Patsy  was  making  for  her  pro 
jected  visit.  An  old  hair  covered  trunk,  which  had 
not  been  opened  for  many  years,  was  brought  out, 
and  the  contents  exposed  to  the  unaccustomed  light 
of  day ;  two  coarse  cotton  petticoats  were  exhumed 
and  ordered  to  be  bleached  and  ironed ;  a  yellow 
flannel  garment  of  the  same  nature  was  put  aside  to 
be  mended  with  some  red  pieces  which  were  rolled 
up  in  it  ;  out  of  several  yarn  stockings  of  various 
ages  and  lengths  two  were  selected  as  being  pretty 
much  alike,  and  laid  by  to  be  darned ;  an  old  black 
frock  with  full  "  bishop  sleeves, "a  good  deal  mended 
and  dreadfully  wrinkled,  was  given  to  one  of  the 
neighbors,  expert  in  such  matters,  to  be  ironed  ; 
and  the  propriety  of  making  use  of  various  other 
ancient  duds  was  eagerly  and  earnestly  discussed. 
Aunt  Patsy,  whose  vitality  had  been  wonderfully 
aroused,  now  that  there  was  some  opportunity  for 
making  use  of  it,  spent  nearly  two  hours  turning 
over,  examining,  and  reflecting  upon  a  pair  of  old- 
fashioned  corsets,  which,  although  they  had  been 
long  cherished,  she  had  never  worn.  She  now  hoped 
that  the  occasion  for  their  use  had  at  last  arrived, 
but  the  utter  impossibility  of  getting  herself  into 
them  was  finally  made  apparent  to  her,  and  she 
mournfully  returned  them  to  the  trunk. 

Washing,  starching,  ironing,  darning,  patching,  and 
an  immense  deal  of  talk  and  consultation,  occupied 
that  and  a  good  deal  of  the  following  day,  the  rest 


The  Late  Mrs  Nidi.  75 

of  which  was  given  up  to  the  repairing  of  an  im 
mense  pair  of  green  baize  shoes,  without  which  Aunt 
Patsy  could  not  be  persuaded  to  go  into  the  outer 
air.  It  was  Saturday  morning  when  she  began  to 
dress  for  the  trip,  and  although  Isham,  wearing  a 
high  silk  hat,  and  a  long  black  coat  which  had  once 
belonged  to  a  clergyman,  arrived  with  the  ox  cart 
about  noon,  the  old  woman  was  not  ready  to  start 
till  two  or  three  hours  afterward.  Her  assistants, 
who  had  increased  in  number,  were  active  and 
assiduous.  Aunt  Patsy  was  very  particular  as  to  the 
manner  of  her  garbing,  and  gave  them  a  great  deal 
of  trouble.  It  had  been  fifteen  years  since  she  had 
set  foot  outside  of  her  house,  and  ten  more  since 
she  had  ridden  in  any  kind  of  vehicle.  This  was  a 
great  occasion,  and  nothing  concerning  it  was  to  be 
considered  lightly. 

"  'Tain't  right,"  she  said  to  Uncle  Isham  when  he 
arrived,  "  fur  a  pow'ful  ole  pusson  like  me  to  set  out 
on  a  jarney  ob  dis  kin'  'thout  'ligious  sarvices.  'Tain't 
'spectable." 

Uncle  Isham  rubbed  his  head  a  good  deal  at  this 
remark.  "  Dunno  wot  we  gwine  to  do  'bout  dat," 
he  said.  "  Brudder  Jeemes  lib  free  miles  off,  an' 
mos'  like  he's  out  ditchin'.  Couldn't  git  him  h'yar 
dis  ebenin',  nohow." 

"  Well  den,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  "  you  conduc'  sar 
vices  yourse'f,  Uncle  Isham,  an'  we  kin  have  prar 
meetin',  anyhow." 

Uncle  Isham  having  consented  to  this,  he  put  his 
oxen  under  the  care  of  a  small  boy,  and  collecting 


76  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

in  Aunt  Patsy's  room  the  five  colored  women  and 
girls  who  were  in  attendance  upon  her,  he  con 
ducted  "  prars,"  making  an  extemporaneous  petition 
which  comprehended  all  the  probable  contingencies 
of  the  journey,  even  to  the  accident  of  the  right 
wheel  of  the  cart  coming  off,  which  the  old  man 
very  reverently  asserted  that  he  would  have  lynched 
with  a  regular  pin  instead  of  a  broken  poker  handle, 
if  he  could  have  found  one.  After  the  prayer,  with 
which  Aunt  Patsy  signified  her  entire  satisfaction 
by  frequent  Amens,  the  company  joined  in  the 
vigorous  singing  of  a  hymn,  in  which  they  stated 
that  they  were  "  gwine  down  to  Jurdun,  an'  tho' 
the  road  is  rough,  when  once  we  shuh  we  git  dar, 
we  all  be  glad  enough ;  de  rocks  an'  de  stones,  an* 
de  jolts  to  de  bones  will  be  nufrin'  to  de  glory  an' 
de  jiy." 

The  hymn  over,  Uncle  Isham  clapped  on  his 
hat,  and  hurried  menacingly  after  the  small  boy, 
who  had  let  the  oxen  wander  along  the  roadside 
until  one  wheel  of  the  cart  was  nearly  in  the  ditch. 
Aunt  Patsy  now  partook  of  a  collation,  consisting 
of  a  piece  of  hoe-cake  dipped  in  pork  fat,  and  a  cup 
of  coffee,  which  having  finished,  she  declared  herself 
ready  to  start.  A  chair  was  put  into  the  cart,  and 
secured  by  ropes  to  keep  it  from  slipping;  and  then, 
with  two  women  on  one  side  and  Uncle  Isham  on 
the  other,  while  another  woman  stood  in  the  cart 
to  receive  and  adjust  her,  she  was  placed  in  posi 
tion. 

Once   properly  disposed   she    presented    a   figure 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  77 

which  elicited  the  lively  admiration  of  her  friends, 
whose  number  was  now  increased  by  the  arrival  of 
a  couple  of  negro  boys  on  mules,  who  were  going 
to  the  post-office,  it  being  Saturday,  and  mail  day. 
Around  Aunt  Patsy's  shoulders  was  a  bright  blue 
worsted  shawl,  and  upon  her  head  a  voluminous 
turban  of  vivid  red  and  yellow.  Since  their  eman 
cipation,  the  negroes  in  that  part  of  the  country 
had  discarded  the  positive  and  gaudy  colors  that 
were  their  delight  when  they  were  slaves,  and  had 
transferred  their  fancy  to  delicate  pinks,  pale  blues, 
and  similar  shades.  But  Aunt  Patsy's  ideas  about 
dress  were  those  of  by-gone  days,  and  she  was  too 
old  now  to  change  them,  and  her  brightest  hand 
kerchief  had  been  selected  for  her  head  on  this  im 
portant  day.  Above  her  she  held  a  parasol,  which 
had  been  graciously  loaned  by  her  descendant  of 
the  fourth  generation.  It  was  white,  and  lined 
writh  pink,  and  on  the  edges  still  lingered  some 
fragments  of  cotton  lace. 

Uncle  Isham  now  took  his  position  by  the  side 
of  his  oxen,  and  started  them ;  and  slowly  creaking, 
Aunt  Patsy's  vehicle  moved  off,  followed  by  the 
two  boys  on  mules,  three  colored  women  and  two 
girls  on  foot,  and  by  two  little  black  urchins  who 
were  sometimes  on  foot,  but  invariably  on  the  tail 
of  the  cart  when  they  could  manage  to  evade  the 
backward  turn  of  Uncle  Isham's  eye. 

"  Ef  I  should  go  to  glory  on  de  road,  Uncle 
Isham/'  said  Aunt  Patsy,  as  the  right  wheel  of  the 
cart  emerged  from  a  rather  awkward  rut,  "  I  don' 


78  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

want  no  fuss  made  'bout  me.  You  kin  jes'  bury  me 
in  de  clothes  I  got  on,  'cep'n  de  pararsol,  ob  course, 
which  is  Liza's.  Jes'  wrop  de  quilt  all  roun'  me,  an' 
hab  a  extry  size  coffin.  You  needn't  do  nuffin' 
more'n  dat." 

*'  Oh,  you's  not  gwine  to  glory  dis  time,  Aun' 
Patsy,"  replied  Uncle  Isham,  who  did  not  want  to 
encourage  the  idea  of  the  old  woman's  departure 
from  life  while  in  his  ox  cart.  But  after  this  re 
mark  of  the  old  woman  he  was  extraordinarily  care 
ful  in  regard  to  jolts  and  bumps. 

When  the  procession  reached  the  domain  of  Miss 
Harriet  Corvey,  there  was  gathered  inside  the  yard 
quite  a  number  of  the  usual  attendants  on  mail  days, 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  Wesley  Green  with  his  wad 
dling  horse  and  leather  bag.  But  all  interest  in  the 
coming  of  the  mail  was  lost  in  the  surprise  and  ad 
miration  excited  by  the  astounding  apparition  of 
old  Aunt  Patsy  in  the  ox  cart,  attended  by  her 
retinue.  As  the  oxen,  skilfully  guided  by  Uncle 
Isham's  long  prod,  turned  into  the  yard,  everybody 
came  forward  to  find  out  the  reason  of  this  un 
looked-for  occurrence.  Even  old  Madison  Chalkley, 
his  stout  legs  swaddled  in  home-made  overalls,  dis 
mounted  from  his  horse,  and  Colonel  Iston  raised 
his  tall  form  from  the  porch  step  where  he  had 
been  sitting,  and  approached  the  cart. 

"  Upon  my  word,"  said  a  young  fellow,  with  high 
boots,  slouched  hat,  and  a  riding  whip,  "  if  here  ain't 
old  Aunt  Patsy  come  after  a  letter  !  Where  do  you 
expect  a  letter  from,  Aunt  Patsy  ?  " 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  79 

The  old  woman  fixed  her  spectacles  on  him  for 
an  instant,  and  then  said  in  a  clear  voice  which 
could  be  heard  by  all  the  little  crowd  :  "  'Tain't  from 
nobody  dat  I  owes  any  money  to,  nohow,  Mahs'  Bill 
Trimble." 

A  general  laugh  followed  this  rejoinder,  and  Uncle 
Isham  grinned  with  gratified  pride  in  the  enduring 
powers  of  his  charge.  The  old  woman  now  put 
down  her  parasol,  and  made  as  if  she  would  descend 
from  the  cart. 

"  You  needn't  git  out,  Aun'  Patsy,"  said  several 
negro  boys  at  once.  "  We'll  fotch  your  letters  to 
you." 

"  Git  'long  wid  you ! "  said  the  old  woman 
angrily.  "  I  didn't  come  here  fur  no  letters.  Ef 
I  wanted  letters  I'd  sen'  'Liza  fur  'em.  Git  out  de 
way." 

A  chair  was  now  brought,  and  placed  near  the  cart ; 
a  woman  mounted  into  the  vehicle  to  assist  her ; 
Uncle  Isham  and  another  colored  man  stood  ready 
to  receive  her,  and  Aunt  Patsy  began  her  descent. 
This,  to  her  mind,  was  a  much  more  difficult  and 
dangerous  proceeding  than  getting  into  the  cart, 
and  she  was  very  slow  and  cautious  about  it.  First, 
one  of  her  great  green  baize  feet  was  put  over  the 
tail  of  the  cart,  and  resting  her  weight  upon  the 
two  men,  Aunt  Patsy  allowed  it  to  descend  to  the 
chair,  where  it  was  gradually  followed  by  the  other 
foot.  Having  safely  accomplished  this  much,  the 
old  woman  ejaculated  :  "  Bress  de  Lor'  !  "  When, 
in  the  same  prudent  manner,  she  had  reached  the 


8o  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

ground,  she  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief,  and  fervently  ex 
claimed:  "  De  Lor'  be  bressed  !  " 

Supported  by  Uncle  Isham,  and  the  other  man, 
Aunt  Patsy  now  approached  the  steps.  She  was  so 
old,  so  little,  so  bowed,  and  so  apparently  feeble, 
that  several  persons  remonstrated  with  her  for 
attempting  to  go  into  the  house  when  anything  she 
wanted  would  be  gladly  done  for  her.  "  Much 
'bliged,"  said  the  old  woman,  "  but  I  don'  want  no 
letters  nor  nuffin'.  Fs  come  to  make  a  call  on  de 
white  folks,  an'  I's  gwine  in." 

This  announcement  was  received  with  a  laugh, 
and  she  was  allowed  to  proceed  without  further  hin 
drance.  She  got  up  the  porch  steps  without  much 
difficulty,  her  supporters  taking  upon  themselves 
most  of  the  necessary  exertion  ;  but  when  she  reached 
the  top,  she  dispensed  with  their  assistance.  Shuf 
fling  to  the  front  door,  she  there  met  Miss  Harriet 
Corvey,  who  greeted  the  old  woman  with  much 
surprise,  but  shook  hands  with  her  very  cordially. 

u  Ebenin',  Miss  Har'et,"  said  Aunt  Patsy.  And 
then,  lowering  her  voice  she  asked :  "  Is  ole  miss 
h'yar?" 

Miss  Harriet  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  she 
answered :  "  Yes,  she  is,  but  I  don't  believe  she'll 
come  down  to  see  you." 

"Oh,  I'll  go  up-stars,"  said  Aunt  Patsy.  "Whar 
she  ?  " 

"  She's  in  the  spare  chamber,"  said  Miss  Harriet ; 
and  Aunt  Patsy,  with  a  nod  of  the  head  signifying 
that  she  knew  all  about  that  room,  crossed  the  hall, 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  81 

and  began,  slowly  but  steadily,  to  ascend  the  stairs. 
Miss  Harriet  gazed  upon  her  with  amazement,  for 
Aunt  Patsy  had  been  considered  chair-ridden  when 
the  postmistress  was  a  young  woman.  Arrived  at 
the  end  of  her  toilsome  ascent,  Aunt  Patsy  knocked 
at  the  door  of  the  spare  chamber,  and  as  the  voice 
of  her  old  mistress  said,  "  Come  in ! "  she  went  in. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WHEN  Lawrence  Croft  reached  the  Green  Sul 
phur  Springs,  after  his  interview  with  Miss  March, 
his  soul  was  still  bubbling  and  boiling  with  emotion, 
and  it  continued  in  that  condition  all  night,  at  least 
during  that  great  part  of  the  night  of  which  he  was 
conscious.  The  sight  of  the  lady  he  loved,  under 
the  new  circumstances  in  which  he  found  her,  had 
determined  him  to  throw  prudence  and  precaution 
to  the  winds,  and  to  ask  her  at  once  to  be  his  wife. 

But  the  next  morning  Lawrence  arose  very  late. 
His  coffee  had  evidently  been  warmed  over,  and  his 
bacon  had  been  cooked  for  a  long,  long  time.  The 
world  did  not  appear  to  him  in  a  favorable  light, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  smoke  two  cigars  before  he 
was  at  all  satisfied  with  it.  While  he  was  smoking 
he  did  a  good  deal  of  thinking,  and  it  was  then  that 
he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  would  not  go 
over  to  Midbranch  and  propose  to  Roberta  March. 
Such  precipitate  action  would  be  unjust  to  himself 
and  unjust  to  her.  In  her  eyes  it  would  probably 
appear  to  be  the  act  of  a  man  who  had  been  sud 
denly  spurred  to  action  by  the  sight  of  a  rival,  and 
this,  if  Roberta  was  the  woman  he  believed  her  to 
be,  would  prejudice  her  against  him.  And  yet  he 
knew  very  well  that  these  reasons  would  avail 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  83 

nothing  if  he  should  see  her  as  he  intended.  He 
had  found  that  he  was  much  more  in  love  with  her 
than  he  had  supposed,  and  he  felt  positively  certain 
that  the  next  time  he  was  alone  with  her  he  would 
declare  his  passion. 

Another  thing  that  he  felt  he  should  consider 
was  that  the  presence  of  Keswick,  if  looked  upon 
with  a  philosophic  eye,  was  not  a  reason  for  im 
mediate  action.  If  the  old  engagement  had  posi 
tively  been  broken  off,  he  was  at  the  house  merely 
as  a  family  friend  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the 
rupture  had  not  been  absolute,  and  if  Roberta  really 
loved  this  tall  Southerner  and  wished  to  marry  him, 
there  was  a  feeling  of  honor  about  Lawrence  which 
forbade  him  to  interfere  at  this  moment.  When 
she  came  to  New  York  he  would  find  out  how 
matters  really  stood,  and  then  he  would  determine 
on  his  own  action. 

And  yet  he  would  have  proposed  to  Roberta  that 
moment  if  he  had  had  the  opportunity.  Her  per 
sonal  presence  would  have  banished  philosophy,  and 
even  honor. 

Lawrence  was  a  long  time  in  coming  to  these 
conclusions,  and  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when 
he  despatched  his  note.  Having  now  given  up  his 
North  Carolina  trip — one  object  of  which  had  been 
still  another  visit  to  Midbranch  on  his  return — he 
was  obliged  to  wait  until  the  next  day  for  a  train  to 
the  North  ;  and,  consequently,  he  had  another  eve 
ning  to  devote  to  reflections.  These,  after  a  time,  be 
came  unsatisfactory.  He  had  told  the  exact  truth  in 


84  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

his  note  to  Roberta,  for  he  felt  that  it  was  necessary 
for  him  to  leave  that  part  of  the  country  in  order  to 
make  impossible  an  interview  for  which  he  believed 
the  proper  time  had  not  arrived.  He  was  consult 
ing  his  best  interests,  and  also,  no  doubt,  those  of 
the  lady.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  this  reasoning,  he 
was  not  satisfied  with  himself.  He  felt  that  his 
note  was  not  entirely  honest  and  true.  There  was 
subterfuge  about  it,  and  something  of  duplicity. 
This  he  believed  was  foreign  to  his  nature,  and  he 
did  not  like  it. 

Lawrence  had  scarcely  finished  his  breakfast  the 
next  morning  when  Mr  Junius  Keswick  arrived  at 
the  door  of  his  cottage.  This  gentleman  had  walked 
over  from  Midbranch  and  was  a  little  dusty  about 
his  boots  and  the  lower  part  of  his  trousers.  Law 
rence  greeted  him  politely,  but  was  unable  to  re 
strain  a  slight  indication  of  surprise.  It  being  more 
pleasant  on  the  porch  than  in  the  house,  Mr  Croft 
invited  his  visitor  to  take  a  seat  there,  and  the  latter 
very  kindly  accepted  the  cigar  which  was  offered 
him,  although  he  would  have  preferred  the  pipe  he 
had  in  his  pocket. 

"  I  thought  it  possible,"  said  Keswick,  as  soon  as 
the  two  had  fairly  begun  to  smoke,  "  that  you  might 
not  yet  have  left  here,  and  so  came  over  in  the  hope 
of  seeing  you." 

"Very  kind,"  said  Lawrence. 

Keswick  smiled.  "  I  must  admit,"  said  he,"  that 
it  was  not  solely  for  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you 
again  that  I  came,  although  I  am  very  glad  to  have 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  85 

an  opportunity  for  renewing  our  acquaintance.  I 
came  because  I  am  quite  convinced  that  Miss  March 
wished  very  much  to  see  you  at  the  time  arranged 
between  you,  and  that  she  was  annoyed  and  dis 
composed  by  your  failure  to  keep  your  engagement. 
Considering  that  you  did  not,  and  probably  could 
not,  know  this,  I  deemed  I  would  do  you  a  service 
by  informing  you  of  the  fact." 

"  Did  Miss  March  send  you  to  tell  me  this?"  ex 
claimed  Lawrence. 

"  Miss  March  knows  nothing  whatever  of  my  com 
ing,"  was  the  answer. 

"  Then  I  must  say,  sir,"  exclaimed  Lawrence, 
"  that  you  have  taken  a  great  deal  upon  yourself." 

Keswick  leaned  forward,  and  after  knocking  off 
the  ashes  of  his  cigar  on  the  outside  of  the  railing, 
he  replied  in  a  tone  quite  unmoved  by  the  reproach 
of  his  companion :  "  It  may  appear  so  on  the  face 
of  it,  but,  in  fact  I  am  actuated  only  by  a  desire  to 
serve  Miss  March,  for  whom  I  would  do  any  service 
that  I  thought  she  desired.  And,  looking  at  it  from 
your  side,  I  am  sure  that  I  would  be  very  much 
obliged  to  any  one  who  would  inform  me,  if  I  did 
not  know  it,  that  a  lady  greatly  wished  to  see  me." 

"Why  does  she  want  to  see  me?"  asked  Croft. 
"  What  has  she  to  say  to  me?  " 

"  I  do  not  know,"  said  Keswick.  "  I  only  know 
that  she  was  very  much  disappointed  in  not  seeing 
you  yesterday." 

"  If  that  is  the  case,  she  might  have  written  to 
me,"  said  Lawrence. 


86  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  I  do  not  think  you  quite  understand  the  situa 
tion,"  observed  his  companion.  "  Miss  March  is  not 
a  lady  who  would  even  intimate  to  a  gentleman  that 
she  wished  him  to  come  to  her  when  it  was  obvious 
that  such  was  not  his  desire.  But  it  seemed  to  me 
that  if  the  gentleman  should  become  aware  of  the 
lady's  wishes  through  the  medium  of  a  third  party, 
the  matter  would  arrange  itself  without  difficulty." 

"  By  the  gentleman  going  to  her,  I  suppose," 
remarked  Croft. 

"  Of  course,"  said  Keswick. 

"  There  is  no  '  of  course  '  about  it,"  was  Lawrence's 
rather  quick  reply. 

At  that  moment  some  letters  were  brought  to 
him  from  a  little  post-office  near  by,  to  which  he 
had  ordered  his  mail  to  be  forwarded.  As  the  ad 
dress  on  one  of  these  letters  caught  his  eye,  the 
somewhat  stern  expression  on  his  face  gave  place  to 
a  smile,  and  begging  his  visitor  to  excuse  him,  he 
put  his  other  letters  into  his  pocket,  and  opened  this 
one.  It  was  very  short,  and  was  from  Mr  Candy's 
cashier.  It  was  written  from  Howlett's,  Virginia, 
a  place  unknown  to  him,  and  stated  that  the  writer 
expected  in  a  very  short  time  to  give  him  some 
accurate  information  in  regard  to  Mr  Keswick,  and 
expressed  the  hope  that  he  would  allow  the  affair  to 
remain  entirely  in  her  hands  until  she  should  write 
again.  It  was  quite  natural  that,  under  the  circum 
stances,  Lawrence  should  smile  broadly  as  he  folded 
up  this  note.  The  man  in  question  was  sitting  be 
side  him,  and,  in  a  measure,  was  turning  the  tables 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  87 

upon  him.  Lawrence  had  been  very  anxions  to  find 
out  what  sort  of  a  man  was  Keswick,  and  the  latter 
now  seemed  in  the  way  of  making  some  discoveries 
in  the  same  line  in  regard  to  Lawrence.  One  thing 
he  must  certainly  do  ;  he  must  write  as  soon  as 
possible  to  his  enterprising  agent,  and  tell  her  that 
her  services  were  no  longer  needed.  She  must  have 
pushed  the  matter  with  a  great  deal  of  energy  to 
have  brought  her  down  to  Virginia,  and  he  could 
not  help  hoping  that  her  discretion  was  equal  to  her 
investigative  capacity. 

When,  after  this  little  interruption,  Lawrence 
again  addressed  Junius  Keswick  his  manner  was  so 
much  more  affable  that  the  other  could  not  fail  but 
notice  it. 

"  Mr  Keswick,"  he  said,  "  as  our  conversation 
seems  to  be  based  upon  personalities,  perhaps  you 
will  excuse  me  if  I  ask  you  if  I  am  mistaken  in  be 
lieving  that  you  were  once  engaged  to  be  married  to 
Miss  March  ?  " 

"  You  are  entirely  correct,"  said  Junius.  "  I  was 
engaged  to  her,  and  I  hope  to  be  engaged  to  her 
again." 

"  Indeed  !  "  exclaimed  Croft,  turning  in  his  chair 
with  a  start. 

u  Yes,"  continued  Keswick,  u  our  engagement 
was  dissolved  in  consequence  of  a  certain  family 
complication,  and  as  I  said  before,  I  hope  in  time  to 
be  able  to  renew  it." 

Lawrence  threw  away  his  cigar,  and  sat  for  a  few 
moments  in  thought.  The  engagement,  then,  did 


88  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

not  exist.  Roberta  was  free.  Recollections  came 
to  him  of  his  own  intercourse  with  her  during  the 
past  summer,  and  his  heart  gave  a  bound.  "  Mr 
Keswick,"  said  he,  "  upon  consideration  of  the  mat 
ter  I  think  I  will  call  upon  Miss  March  this  morn- 
ing." 

If  Keswick  had  expressed  himself  entirely  satis 
fied  with  this  decision  he  would  have  done  injustice 
to  his  feelings.  The  service  he  had  taken  upon 
himself  to  perform  for  Miss  March  he  had  consid 
ered  a  duty,  but  if  his  mission  had  failed  he  would 
have  been  better  pleased  than  with  its  success.  He 
made,  however,  a  courteous  reply  to  Croft's  remark, 
and  rose  to  depart.  But  this  the  other  would  not 
allow. 

"  You  told  me,"  said  Croft,  "  that  you  walked 
over  here ;  but  it  is  much  warmer  now,  and  you 
must  not  think  of  such  a  thing  as  walking  back. 
The  man  here  has  a  horse  and  buggy.  I  will  get 
him  to  harness  up,  and  I  will  drive  you  over  to 
Midbranch." 

As  there  was  no  good  reason  why  he  should  de 
cline  this  offer,  Junius  accepted  it,  and  in  half  an 
hour  the  two  were  on  their  way. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

OLD  Mr  Brandon  of  Midbranch  was  not  in  a  very 
happy  frame  of  mind,  and  he  had  good  reasons  for 
dissatisfaction.  He  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  a 
marriage  between  his  niece  and  Junius  Keswick  ;  and 
when  the  engagement  had  been  broken  off  he  had 
considered  that  both  these  young  people  had  acted 
in  a  manner  very  foolish  and  contrary  to  their  best 
interests.  There  was  no  opposition  to  the  match 
except  from  old  Mrs  Keswick,  who  was  the  aunt  of 
Junius,  but  who  considered  herself  as  occupying  the 
position  of  a  mother.  Junius  was  the  son  of  a 
sister  who  had  also  married  into  the  Keswick  family, 
and  his  parents  having  died  while  he  was  a  boy,  his 
aunt  had  taken  him  under  her  charge,  and  her  house 
had  then  became  his  home  ;  although  of  late  years 
some  of  his  absences  had  been  long  ones.  Mrs  Kes 
wick  had  no  personal  objections  to  Roberta,  never 
having  seen  that  lady,  and  knowing  little  of  her  ;  but 
an  alliance  between  her  Junius  and  any  member  of 
that  branch  of  the  Brandons,  "  which,"  to  use  the  old 
lady's  own  words,  "  had  for  four  generations  cheated, 
stripped,  and  scornfully  used  my  people,  scattering 
their  atoms  over  the  face  of  three  counties,"  was 
monstrous.  Nothing  could  make  her  consent  to 
such  an  enormity,  and  she  had  informed  Junius  that 


90  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

if  he  married  that  March  girl  three  of  them  should 
live  together — himself,  his  wife,  and  her  undying 
curse.  In  order  that  Miss  March  might  not  fail  to 
hear  of  this  post-connubial  arrangement,  she  had 
been  informed  of  it  by  letter.  Of  course  this  had 
broken  off  the  engagement,  for  Roberta  would  not 
live  under  a  curse,  nor  would  she  tear  a  man  from 
the  only  near  relative  he  had  in  the  world.  Keswick 
himself,  like  most  men,  would  have  been  willing  to 
have  this  tearing  take  place  for  the  sake  of  uniting 
himself  to  such  a  charming  creature  as  Roberta 
March.  But  the  lady  on  one  side  was  as  inflexible 
as  the  lady  on  the  other,  and  the  engagement  was 
definitely  and  absolutely  ended. 

Mr  Brandon  considered  all  this  as  stuff  and  non 
sense.  He  could  not  deny  that  his  branch  of  the 
Brandons  had  certainly  got  a  good  deal  out  of  Mrs 
Keswick's  family.  But  here  was  a  chance  to  make 
everything  all  right  again,  and  he  would  be  de 
lighted  to  see  Junius,  a  relative,  although  a  distant 
one,  come  into  possession  of  Midbranch.  As  for 
the  old  lady's  opposition,  that  should  not  be  consid 
ered  at  all,  he  thought.  It  was  his  opinion  that  her 
mind  had  been  twisted  by  her  bad  temper,  and  noth 
ing  she  could  say  could  hurt  anybody. 

Of  late  Mr  Brandon  had  been  much  encouraged 
by  the  fact  that  Junius  had  begun  to  resume  his 
position  as  a  friend  of  the  family.  This  was  all 
very  well.  If  the  young  people,  by  occasional  meet 
ings,  could  keep  alive  their  sentiments  toward  each 
other,  the  time  would  come  when  all  opposition 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  91 

would  cease,  and  the  marriage  would  become  an 
assured  fact.  He  did  not  believe  either  of  the 
young  people  would  care  enough  for  a  post-mortem 
curse,  if  there  should  be  one,  to  keep  themselves 
separated  from  each  other  on  its  account  for  the  rest 
of  their  lives. 

But  the  recent  quite  unexpected  return  of  Law 
rence  Croft  to  Midbranch,  combined  with  the  evi 
dent  discomposure  into  which  Roberta  had  been 
thrown  by  his  failure  to  come  the  next  day,  had 
given  the  old  gentleman  some  unpleasant  ideas. 
His  niece  had  mentioned  that  she  expected  Mr 
Croft  that  day,  and  although  she  said  nothing  in  re 
gard  to  her  subsequent  disappointment  and  vexa 
tion,  his  mind  was  quite  acute  enough  to  perceive 
it.  Exactly  what  it  all  meant  he  knew  not,  but  it 
augured  danger.  For  the  first  time  he  began  to 
look  upon  Mr  Croft  in  the  light  of  a  suitor  for 
Roberta.  If  a  jealous  feeling  at  finding  another  per 
son  on  the  ground  was  the  cause  of  his  not  coming 
again,  it  showed  that  he  was  in  earnest,  and  this, 
added  to  the  evident  disturbance  of  mind  of  both 
Roberta  and  Junius,  was  enough  to  give  Mr  Bran 
don  most  serious  fears  that  an  obstacle  to  his  cher 
ished  plan  was  arising.  Roberta  was  fond  of  city 
life,  of  society,  of  travel,  and  if  she  had  really  made 
up  her  mind  that  her  union  with  Junius  was  no 
.longer  to  be  thought  of,  the  advent  of  a  man  like 
Croft,  who  had  been  making  her  acquaintance  all 
summer,  and  who  had  now  returned  to  Virginia,  no 
doubt  for  the  sole  purpose  of  seeing  her  again  was, 


92  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

to  say  the  least,  exceedingly  ominous.  One  thing 
only  could  correct  this  deplorable  state  of  affairs. 
The  absurd  bar  to  the  union  of  Junius  and  Roberta 
should  be  removed,  and  they  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  upon  the  happiness  that  was  their  right. 

Above  all,  the  estate  of  Midbranch  should  not  be 
suffered  to  go  into  the  possession  of  an  outsider,  who 
might  be  good  enough,  but  who  was  of  no  earthly 
moment  or  interest  to  the  Brandons.  He  would  go 
himself,  and  see  the  widow  Keswick,  and  talk  her 
out  of  her  nonsense.  It  was  a  long  time  since  he 
had  met  the  old  wild  cat,  as  he  termed  her,  and  his 
recollection  of  the  last  interview  was  not  pleasant, 
but  he  was  not  afraid  of  her,  and  he  hoped  that  the 
common  sense  of  what  he  would  say  would  bring 
her  to  reason. 

Mr  Brandon  made  up  his  mind  during  the  night ; 
and  when  he  came  down  to  breakfast  he  was  very 
glad  to  find  that  Junius  had  already  gone  out  for  a 
walk.  The  distance  to  the  widow  Keswick's  house 
was  about  fifteen  miles,  a  pleasant  day's  ride  for  the 
old  gentleman,  and  as  he  did  not  expect  to  return 
until  the  next  day,  he  felt  obliged  to  inform  Roberta 
of  his  destination,  although,  of  course,  he  said  noth 
ing  about  the  object  of  his  visit.  He  told  his  niece 
that  he  was  obliged  to  see  the  widow  Keswick  on 
business,  to  which  remark  she  listened  without 
reply. 

Soon  after  breakfast  he  mounted  his  good  horse, 
Albemarle,  and  early  in  the  afternoon  he  arrived  at 
the  widow  Keswick's  gate.  He  had  looked  for  a 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  93 

stormy  reception,  in  which  the  thunder-bolts  of  rage 
should  burst  around  him,  and  he  was  surprised, 
therefore,  to  be  received  with  the  frigidity  of  the 
North  Pole. 

"  I  never  expected,"  she  said,  without  any  pre 
vious  courtesy,  "  to  see  one  of  your  people  under 
my  roof,  and  it  is  not  very  long  ago  since  I  would 
have  gone  away  from  it  the  moment  any  one  of  you 
came  near  it." 

"  I  am  happy,  madam,"  said  Mr  Brandon,  in  his 
most  courteous  manner,  "  that  that  day  is  past." 

"  My  staying  won't  do  you  any  good,"  said  the 
old  lady,  whose  purple  sun-bonnet  seemed  to  heave 
with  the  uprisal  of  her  hair,  "  except,  perhaps,  to 
get  you  a  better  meal  than  the  servants  would  have 
given  you.  But  I  want  a  lawyer,  and  I  can't  afford 
to  pay  for  one  either,  and  when  I  saw  you  coming 
I  just  made  up  my  mind  to  get  something  out  of 
you,  and  if  I  do  it,  it'll  be  the  first  red  mark  for  my 
side  of  the  family." 

Mr  Brandon  assured  her  that  nothing  would  give 
him  more  pleasure  than  to  assist  her  in  any  way  in 
his  power. 

"  Very  well,  then,"  said  Mrs  Keswick,  "  just  sit 
down  on  that  bench,  and,  when  we  have  got 
through,  your  horse  can  be  taken,  and  you  can  rest 
a  while,  though  it  seems  a  very  curious  thing  that 
you  should  want  to  stop  here  to  rest." 

"Well,  madam,"  said  Mr  Brandon,  seating  himself 
as  comfortably  as  possible  on  a  wooden  bench,  "  I 
shall  be  happy  to  hear  anything  you  have  to  say." 


94  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

The  old  lady  did  not  sit  down,  but  stood  up  in 
front  of  him,  leaning  on  her  umbrella,  with  which 
faithful  companion  she  had  been  about  to  set  out 
on  her  walk.  "  When  my  son  Junius  came  home 
a  while  ago "  she  began. 

"  Do  you  still  call  him  your  son  ?  "  interrupted 
Mr  Brandon. 

"  Indeed  I  do ! "  was  the  very  prompt  answer. 
"  That's  just  what  he  is.  And,  as  I  was  going  to 
say,  when  he  wrote  me  a  short  time  ago  that  he  was 
coming  here,  I  believed,  from  his  letter,  that  he  had 
some  scheme  on  hand  in  regard  to  your  niece,  and 
I  made  up  my  mind  I  wouldn't  stay  in  the  house  to 
hear  anything  more  said  on  that  subject.  I  had 
told  him  that  I  never  wanted  him  to  say  another 
word  about  it  ;  and  it  made  my  blood  boil,  sir,  to 
think  that  he  had  come  again  to  try  to  cozen  me 
into  the  vile  compact." 

"  Madam  !  "  exclaimed  Mr  Brandon. 

"  The  next  day,"  continued  Mrs  Keswick,  "  a  lady 
arrived  ;  and  as  soon  as  I  saw  her  drive  into  the  gate 
I  felt  sure  it  was  Roberta  March,  and  that  the  two 
had  hatched  up  a  plot  to  come  and  work  on  my 
feelings,  and  so  I  wouldn't  come  near  the  house." 

"  Madam  !  "  exclaimed  Mr  Brandon,  "  how  could 
you  dream  such  a  thing  of  my  niece  ?  You  don't 
know  her,  madam." 

"  No,"  said  the  old  lady,  "  I  don't  know  her,  but  I 
knew  she  belonged  to  your  family,  and  so  I  was  not 
to  be  surprised  at  anything  she  did.  But  I  found 
out  I  was  mistaken.  An  old  negro  woman  recog- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  95 

nized  this  young  person  as  the  daughter  of  my 
younger  sister  you  know  there  were  three  of  us. 
The  child  was  born  and  raised  here,  but  I  have  not 
seen  and  have  scarcely  heard  of  her  since  she  was 
eight  years  old." 

"  That's  very  extraordinary,  madam,"  said  Mr 
Brandon. 

"  No,  it  isn't,  when  you  consider  the  stubborn 
ness,  the  obstinacy,  and  the  wickedness  of  some 
people.  My  sister  sickened  when  the  child  was 
about  six  years  old,  and  her  husband,  Harvey  Pey 
ton - 

"  I  have  frequently  heard  of  him,  madam,"  said 
Mr  Brandon. 

"  And  I  wish  I  never  had,"  said  she.  "  Well,  he 
was  travelling  most  of  the  time,  a  thing  my  sister 
couldn't  do ;  but  he  came  here  then  and  stayed,  off 
and  on,  till  she  died.  And  not  long  afterward,  just 
because  I  told  him  that  I  intended  to  consider  the 
child  as  my  child,  and  that  she  should  have  the  name 
of  Keswick  instead  of  his  name,  and  should  know 
me  as  her  mother,  and  live  with  me  always,  he  got 
angry  and  flared  up,  and  actually  took  the  child 
away.  I  gave  it  to  him  hot,  I  can  tell  you,  before 
he  left,  and  I  never  saw  him  again.  He  was  so 
eaten  up  with  rage  because  I  wanted  to  take  the 
little  Annie  for  my  own,  that  he  filled  her  mind  with 
such  prejudices  against  me  that  when  he  died  a  year 
or  two  ago,  she  actually  went  to  work  to  get  her  own 
living  instead  of  applying  to  me  for  help.  But  now 
she  has  come  down  here,  and  I  was  really  filled  with 


96  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

joy  to  have  her  again  and  carry  out  the  plan  on 
which  my  heart  had  long  been  set — that  is  to  marry 
her  to  her  cousin  Junius,  and  let  them  have  this  farm 
when  I  am  gone, " 

At  this  Mr  Brandon  raised  his  eyebrows,  and  low 
ered  the  corners  of  his  mouth. 

"  But  I  suddenly  discover,"  continued  the  old 
lady,  "  that  the  little  wretch  is  married — actually 
married." 

At  this  Mr  Brandon  lowered  his  eyebrows  and 
raised  the  corners  of  his  mouth.  "  Did  her  husband 
come  with  her  ? "  he  asked,  pleasantly.  And  he 
gave  a  few  long,  free  breaths  as  if  he  had  just  passed 
in  safety  a  very  dangerous  and  unsuspected  rock. 

"  No,  he  didn't,"  replied  the  old  lady.  "  I  don't 
know  where  he  is,  and,  from  what  I  can  make  out, 
he  is  an  utterly  good-for-nothing  fellow,  allowing  his 
wife  to  go  where  she  pleases,  and  take  care  of  her 
self.  Now  this  abominable  marriage  stands  square 
in  the  way  of  the  plan  which  again  rose  up  in  my 
mind  the  moment  I  heard  that  the  girl  was  in  my 
house.  If  Junius  and  she  should  marry,  there 
would  be  no  more  dangers  for  me  to  look  out  for." 

"  But  the  existence  of  a  husband,"  said  Mr  Bran 
don  blandly,  "  puts  an  end  to  all  thoughts  of  such 
an  alliance." 

"  No  it  don't,"  said  the  old  lady,  bringing  her  um 
brella  down  with  force  on  the  porch.  "  Not  a  bit 
of  it.  Such  an  outrageous  marriage  should  not  be 
suffered  to  exist.  They  should  be  divorced.  He 
does  nothing  for  her,  and  neglects  and  deserts  her 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  97 

absolutely.  There's  every  ground  for  a  divorce,  or 
enough  grounds,  at  any  rate.  All  that's  necessary  is 
for  a  lawyer  to  take  it  up.  I  don't  know  any  law 
yers,  and  when  I  saw  you  riding  up  from  the  road 
gate  I  said  to  myself :  '  Here's  the  very  man  I 
want, — and  it's  full  time  I  should  get  something 
from  people  who  have  taken  nearly  everything 
from  me.'  " 

Mr  Brandon  bowed. 

"  And  now,"  continued  the  old  lady,  "  I  am  going 
to  put  the  case  into  your  hands.  The  man  is,  evi 
dently,  a  good-for-nothing  scoundrel,  and  has  prob 
ably  spent  the  little  money  that  her  miserable 
father  left  her.  It's  a  clear  case  of  desertion,  and 
there  should  be  no  trouble  at  all  in  getting  the 
divorce." 

Mr  Brandon  looked  down  upon  the  floor  of  the 
porch,  and  smiled.  This  was  a  pretty  case,  he 
thought,  to  put  into  his  hands.  Here  was  a  mar 
riage  which  was  the  strongest  protection  in  the 
promotion  of  his  own  plan,  and  he  was  asked  to 
annul  it.  "  Very  good,"  thought  Mr  Brandon,  "  very 
good."  And  he  smiled  again.  But  he  was  an  old- 
fashioned  gentleman,  and  not  used  to  refuse  re 
quests  made  to  him  by  ladies.  "  I  will  look  into  it, 
madam,"  said  he.  "  I  will  look  into  it,  and  see  what 
can  be  done." 

"  Something  must  be  done,"  said  the  old  lady  ; 
"  and  the  right  thing  too.  How  long  do  you  intend 
to  stay  here  ?  " 

"  I  thought  of  spending  the  night,  madam,  as  my 


98  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

horse  and  myself  are  scarcely  in  condition  to  con 
tinue  our  journey  to-day." 

"  Stay  as  long  as  you  like,"  said  Mrs  Keswick. 
"  I  turn  nobody  from  my  doors,  even  if  they  belong 
to  the  Brandon  family.  I  want  you  to  talk  to  my 
niece,  and  get  all  you  can  out  of  her  about  this 
thing,  and  then  you  can  go  to  work  and  blot  out 
this  contemptible  marriage  as  soon  as  possible." 

"  The  first  thing,"  said  Mr  Brandon,  "  will  be  to 
talk  to  the  lady." 

This  reply  being  satisfactory  to  Mrs  Keswick, 
Uncle  Isham  was  called  to  take  the  horse  and  at 
tend  to  him,  while  the  master  was  invited  into  the 
house. 

Mr  Brandon  first  met  Mrs  Null  at  supper  time, 
and  her  appearance  very  much  pleased  him.  "  It  is 
not  likely,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  that  the  man  lives 
who  would  willingly  give  up  such  a  charming 
young  creature  as  this."  They  were  obliged  to  in 
troduce  themselves  to  each  other,  as  the  lady  of  the 
house  had  not  yet  appeared.  After  a  while  Letty, 
who  was  in  attendance,  advised  them  to  sit  down  as 
"de  light  bread  an'  de  batter-bread  was  gittin'  cole." 

"  We  could  not  think  of  such  a  thing  as  sitting  at 
table  before  Mrs  Keswick  arrives,"  said  Mr  Brandon. 

"  Oh,  dar's  no  knowin'  when  she'll  come,"  said 
the  blooming  Letty.  "  She  may  be  h'yar  by  break- 
fus  time,  but  dar  ain't  nobuddy  in  dis  yere  worl'  kin 
tell.  She's  down  at  de  bahn  now,  blowin'  up  Plez 
fur  gwine  to  sleep  when  he  was  a  shellin'  de  cohnfiel' 
peas.  An'  when  she's  got  froo  wid  him  she's  got  a 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  99 

bone  to  pick  wid  Uncle  Isham  'bout  de  gyardin'. 
'Tain't  no  use  waitin'  fur  ole  miss.  She  nebber  do 
come  when  de  bell  rings.  She  come  when  she  git 
ready,  an'  not  afore." 

Mr  Brandon  now  felt  quite  sure  that  it  was  the 
intention  of  his  hostess  not  to  break  bread  with  one 
of  his  family,  and  so  he  seated  himself,  Mrs  Null 
taking  the  head  of  the  table  and  pouring  out  the  tea 
and  coffee. 

"  It  has  been  a  long  time,  madam,  since  you  were 
in  this  part  of  the  country,"  said  the  old  gentleman, 
as  he  drew  the  smoking  batter-bread  toward  him 
and  began  to  cut  it. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs  Null,  "  not  since  I  was  a  little 
girl.  I  suppose  you  have  heard,  sir,  that  Aunt 
Keswick  and  my  father  were  on  very  bad  terms,  and 
would  not  have  anything  to  do  with  each  other  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Mr  Brandon,  "  I  have  heard  that." 

"  But  my  father  is  not  living  now,  and  I  am  down 
here  again." 

"And  your  husband?  He  did  not  accompany 
you  ?  "  said  Mr  Brandon. 

"  No,"  replied  Mrs  Null,  very  quickly.  "  We  were 
both  very  sorry  that  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to 
come  with  me." 

Mr  Brandon's  spirits  began  to  rise.  This  did  not 
look  quite  like  desertion.  "  I  have  no  doubt  you 
have  a  very  good  husband.  I  am  sure  you  deserve 
such  a  one,"  he  said  with  the  air  of  a  father,  and  the 
purpose  of  a  lawyer. 

"Good  !"  exclaimed  Mrs  Null,  her  eyes  sparkling. 


ioo  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"He  couldn't  be  better  if  he  tried  !  Will  you  have 
sweet  milk,  or  buttermilk  ?  " 

"  Buttermilk,  if  you  please,"  said  Mr  Brandon. 
"Of  course  your  aunt  was  delighted  to  have  you 
with  her  again." 

"  Oh,"  said  Mrs  Null,  with  a  laugh,  "  she  was  not 
at  home  when  I  arrived,  but  when  she  returned 
nothing  could  be  too  good  for  me.  Why,  she  had 
been  here  scarcely  half  an  hour,  and  hadn't  taken  off 
her  sun-bonnet,  before  she  told  me  I  was  to  marry 
Junius  and  we  two  were  to  have  this  farm." 

"  A  very  pleasant  plan,  truly,"  said  Mr  Brandon. 

"  But  then,  you  see,"  continued  the  young  girl, 
"  Mr  Null  stood  dreadfully  in  the  way  of  such  an  ar 
rangement  ;  and  when  Aunt  Keswick  heard  about 
him  you  can't  imagine  what  a  change  came  over 
her." 

"  Oh,  yes  I  can ;  yes  I  can,"  exclaimed  Mr  Bran 
don — "  I  can  imagine  it  very  well." 

"  But  she  didn't  give  up  a  bit,"  said  Mrs  Null. 
"  I  don't  think  she  ever  does  give  up." 

"  You  are  right,  there,"  said  Mr  Brandon,  "  quite 
right.  But  what  does  she  propose  to  do  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure  ;  but  she  said  I  had  no 
right  to  marry  without  the  consent  of  my  surviving 
relatives,  and  that  she  was  going  to  look  into  it.  I 
can't  think  what  she  means  by  that." 

Mr  Brandon  made  no  immediate  answer.  He 
gave  Mrs  Null  some  damson  preserves,  and  he 
took  some  himself,  and  then  he  helped  himself  to  a 
great  hot  roll,  from  a  plate  that  Letty  had  just 


The  Late  Mrs 'Null.  101 

brought  in,  and  carefully  opening  it  he  buttered  it 
on  the  inside,  and  covered  one-half  of  it  with  the 
damson  preserves.  This  he  began  slowly  to  eat, 
drinking  at  times  from  the  foaming  glass  of  butter 
milk  at  the  side  of  his  plate,  from  which  the  coffee- 
cup  had  been  removed.  When  he  had  finished 
the  half  roll  he  again  spoke.  "  I  think,  my  dear 
young  lady,  that  your  aunt  is  desirous  of  having 
your  marriage  set  aside." 

"  How  can  she  do  that  ?  "  exclaimed  the  girl,  her 
face  flushing.  "  Has  she  been  talking  to  you  about 
it?" 

"  I  cannot  deny  that  she  has  spoken  to  me  on  the 
subject,"  he  answered,  "  I  being  a  lawyer.  But  I 
will  say  to  you,  in  strict  confidence,  please,  that  if 
you  and  your  husband  are  sincerely  attached  to  each 
other  there  is  nothing  on  earth  she  can  do  to  sepa 
rate  you." 

"  Attached  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs  Null.  "  It  would 
be  impossible  for  us  to  be  more  attached  than  we 
are.  We  never  have  had  the  slightest  difference, 
even  of  opinion,  since  our  wedding  day.  Why,  I 
believe  that  we  are  more  like  one  person  than  any 
married  couple  in  the  world." 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it,"  said  Mr  Brandon, 
finishing  his  buttermilk — "  very  glad  indeed.  And, 
feeling  as  you  do,  I  am  certain  that  nothing  your 
aunt  can  say  will  make  any  impression  on  you  in  re 
gard  to  seeking  a  divorce." 

"  I  should  think  not !  "  said  Mrs  Null,  sitting  up 
very  straight.  "  Divorce  indeed  !  " 


iO2  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  I  fully  uphold  you  in  the  stand  you  have  taken," 
said  Mr  Brandon.  "  But  I  beg  you  will  not  men 
tion  this  conversation  to  your  aunt.  It  would  only 
annoy  her.  Is  your  cousin  expected  here  shortly?  " 

"  I  believe  so,"  she  said.  "  To  be  sure,  my  aunt 
left  the  house  the  last  time  he  came,  but  she  has 
his  address,  and  has  written  for  him.  I  think  she 
wants  us  to  get  acquainted  as  soon  as  possible,  so 
that  no  time  will  be  lost  in  marrying  us  after  poor 
Mr  Null  is  disposed  of." 

"  Very  good,  very  good,"  said  Mr  Brandon  with  a 
laugh.  "And  now,  my  dear  young  friend,  I  want 
to  give  you  a  piece  of  advice.  Stay  here  as  long  as 
you  can.  Your  aunt  will  soon  perceive  the  absurd 
ity  of  her  ideas  in  regard  to  your  husband,  and  will 
cease  to  annoy  you.  Make  a  friend  of  your  cousin 
Junius,  whom  I  know  and  respect  highly;  and  he 
certainly  will  be  of  advantage  to  you.  Above  all 
things,  endeavor  to  thoroughly  reconcile  him  and 
Mrs  Keswick,  so  that  she  will  cease  to  oppose  his 
wishes,  and  to  interfere  with  his  future  fortune.  If 
you  can  bring  back  good  feeling  between  these  two, 
you  will  be  the  angel  of  the  family." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Mrs.  Null,  as  they  rose  from 
the  table. 

The  next  morning,  after  Mr  Brandon  and  Mrs 
Null  had  breakfasted  together,  the  mistress  of  the 
house,  having  apparently  finished  the  performance 
of  the  duties  which  had  kept  her  from  the  breakfast- 
table,  had  some  conversation  with  her  visitor.  In 
this  he  repeated  very  little  of  what  he  had  said  to  the 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  103 

younger  lady  the  night  before,  but  he  assured  Mrs 
Keswick  that  he  had  discovered  that  it  would  be  a 
very  delicate  thing  to  propose  to  her  niece  a  divorce 
from  her  husband,  a  thing  to  which  she  was  not  at 
all  inclined,  as  he  had  found. 

"  Of  course  not!  of  course  not !"  exclaimed  Mrs 
Keswick.  "  She  can't  be  expected  to  see  what  a 
wretched  plight  she  has  got  herself  into  by  marry 
ing  this  straggler  from  nobody  knows  where." 

"  But,  madam,"  said  Mr  Brandon,  "  if  you  worry 
her  about  it,  she  will  leave  you,  and  then  all  will  be 
at  an  end.  Now,  let  me  advise  you  as  your  lawyer. 
Keep  her  here  as  long  as  you  can.  Do  everything 
possible  to  foster  friendship  and  good  feeling  be 
tween  her  and  Junius;  and  to  do  this  you  must 
forget  as  far  as  possible  all  that  has  gone  by,  and  be 
friendly  with  both  of  them  yourself." 

"  Humph !  "  said  the  widow  Keswick.  "  I  didn't 
ask  you  for  advice  of  that  sort." 

"  It  is  all  a  part  of  the  successful  working  of  the 
case,  madam,"  said  Mr  Brandon.  "  A  thorough 
good  feeling  must  be  established  before  anything 
else  can  be  done." 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  the  old  lady.  "  She  must 
learn  to  like  us  before  she  begins  to  hate  him.  And 
how  about  your  niece  ?  Are  you  going  to  send  her 
down  here  to  help  on  in  the  good  feeling  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  brought  my  niece  into  this  affair," 
replied  Mr  Brandon,  with  dignity. 

"  Well,  then,  see  that  you  don't,"  was  the  widow 
Keswick's  reply.  And  the  interview  terminated. 


104  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

When  Mr  Brandon  rode  away  on  his  good  horse 
Albemarle,  he  looked  at  the  post  of  the  road  gate 
from  which  he  was  lifting  the  latch  by  means  of  the 
long  wooden  handle  arranged  for  the  convenience  of 
riders,  and  said  to  himself:  "John  Keswick  was  a 
good  man,  but  I  don't  wonder  he  came  out  here  and 
shot  himself.  It  is  a  great  pity  though  that  it  wasn't 
his  wife  who  did  it,  instead  of  him.  That  would 
have  been  a  blessing  to  all  of  us.  But,"  he  added, 
contemplatively,  as  he  closed  the  gate,  "  the  people 
in  this  world  who  ought  to  blow  out  their  brains, 
never  do." 

Soon  after  he  had  gone,  Mrs  Null  went  up  Pine 
Top  Hill,  and  sat  down  on  the  rock  to  have  a 
"  think."  "  Now,  then,  Freddy,"  she  said,  "  every 
thing  depends  on  you.  If  you  don't  stand  by  me 
I  am  lost — that  is  to  say,  I  must  go  away  from 
here  before  Junius  comes;  and  you  know  I  don't 
want  to  do  that.  I  want  to  see  him  on  my  account, 
and  on  his  account  too  ;  but  I  don't  want  him  cram 
med  down  my  throat  for  a  husband  the  moment  he 
arrives,  and  that  is  just  what  will  happen  if  you 
don't  do  your  duty,  Mr  Null.  Even  if  it  wasn't  for 
you,  I  don't  want  to  look  at  him  from  the  husband 
point  of  view,  because,  of  course,  he  is  a  very  differ 
ent  person  from  what  he  used  to  be,  and  is  a  total 
stranger  to  me. 

"  It  is  actually  more  than  twelve  years  since  I 
have  seen  him,  and  besides  that,  he  is  just  as  good 
as  engaged  to  that  niece  of  Mr.  Brandon's,  who  is  a 
horrible  mixture  of  a  she-wolf  and  a  female  mule,  if 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  105 

I  am  to  believe  Aunt  Keswick,  but  I  expect  she  is, 
truly,  a  very  nice  girl.  Though,  to  be  sure,  she  can't 
have  much  spirit  if  she  consented  to  break  off  her 
marriage  just  on  account  of  the  back-handed  bene 
diction  which  Aunt  Keswick  told  me  she  offered 
her  as  a  wedding  gift.  If  I  had  wanted  to  marry  a 
man  I  would  have  let  the  old  lady  curse  the  heels  off 
her  boots  before  I  would  have  paid  any  attention  to 
her.  Cursing  don't  hurt  anybody  but  the  curser. 

"  What  I  want  of  Junius  is  to  make  a  friend  of  him, 
if  he  turns  out  to  be  the  right  kind  of  a  person,  and 
to  tell  him  about  this  Mr  Croft  who  is  so  anxious  to 
find  him.  The  only  person  I  have  met  yet  who 
seems  like  an  ordinary  Christian  is  old  Mr  Brandon, 
and  he's  a  sly  one,  I'm  afraid.  Aunt  Keswick  thinks 
he  stopped  here  on  his  way  somewhere,  but  I  don't 
believe  a  word  of  it.  I  believe  he  came  for  reasons 
of  his  own,  and  went  right  straight  back  again.  You 
are  almost  as  much  to  him,  Freddy,  as  you  are  to 
me.  It  would  have  made  you  laugh  if  you  could 
have  seen  how  his  face  lighted  up  when  he  heard  we 
were  happy  together,  and  that  I  would  not  listen  to 
a  divorce.  And  yet  I  am  sure  he  has  promised 
Aunt  Keswick  to  see  what  he  can  do  about  getting 
one.  He  wants  me  to  stay  here  and  make  friends 
of  Aunt  Keswick  and  Junius,  but  he  wouldn't  like 
that  if  it  were  not  for  you,  Mr  Null.  You  make 
everything  safe  for  him. 

"  And  now,  Freddy,  I  tell  you  again,  that  all  de 
pends  upon  you.  If  I'm  to  stay  here — and  I  want  to 
do  that,  for  a  time  any  way,  for  although  Aunt  Kes- 


io6  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

wick  is  so  awfully  queer,  she's  my  own  aunt,  and 
that's  more  than  I  can  say  for  anybody  else  in  the 
world — you  must  stiffen  up,  and  stand  by  me.  It 
won't  do  to  give  way  for  a  minute.  If  necessary 
you  must  take  tonics,  and  have  a  steel  rod  down 
your  back,  if  you  can't  keep  yourself  erect  without 
it.  You  must  have  your  legs  padded,  and  your 
chest  thrown  out ;  and  you  must  stand  up  very 
strong  and  sturdy,  Freddy,  and  not  let  them  push 
you  an  inch  this  way  or  that.  And  now  that  we 
have  made  up  our  minds  on  this  subject,  we'll  go 
down,  for  it's  getting  a  little  cool  on  the  top  of  this 
hill." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ON  the  morning  of  her  uncle's  departure  from 
Midbranch,  Roberta  came  out  on  the  porch,  and 
took  her  seat  in  a  large  wooden  arm-chair,  putting 
down  her  key  basket  on  the  floor  beside  her.  The 
day  was  bright  and  sunny,  and  the  shadows  of  two 
or  three  turkey  buzzards,  who  were  circling  in  the 
air,  moved  over  the  field  in  front  of  the  house.  In 
this  field  also  moved,  not  so  fast,  nor  so  gracefully 
as  th3  shadows,  two  ploughs,  one  near  by,  and  the 
other  at  quite  a  distance.  The  woods  which  shut 
out  a  great  part  of  the  horizon  showed  many  a  bit 
of  color,  but  the  scene,  although  bright  enough  in 
some  of  its  tones,  was  not  a  cheering  one  to  Ro 
berta  ;  and  she  needed  cheering. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  delay  of  her  father  in  mak 
ing  his  winter  visit  to  New  York,  she  would  now  be  in 
that  city,  but  if  things  had  gone  on  as  she  expected 
they  would,  she  would  have  been  perfectly  satisfied 
to  remain  several  weeks  longer  at  Midbranch.  Jun- 
ius  Keswick,  who  had  not  visited  the  house  for  a 
long  time,  had  come  to  them  again ;  and,  now  that 
the  subject  of  love  and  marriage  had  been  set  aside, 
it  was  charming  to  have  him  there  as  a  friend.  They 
not  only  walked  in  the  woods,  but  they  took  long 
rides  over  the  country,  Mr  Brandon  having  waived 


io8  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

his  objections  in  regard  to  his  niece  riding  about 
with  gentlemen.  She  had  even  been  pleased  with 
the  unexpected  return  of  Lawrence  Croft,  for,  for 
reasons  of  her  own,  she  wished  very  much  to  have  a 
talk  with  him.  But  he  had  not  fulfilled  his  promise 
to  her,  and  had  gone  away  in  a  very  unsatisfactory 
manner. 

This  morning  she  felt  a  little  lonely,  too,  for 
Junius  had  left  the  place  before  breakfast,  and  she 
did  not  know  where  he  had  gone  ;  and  her  uncle  had 
actually  ridden  away  to  see  that  horrible  widow 
Keswick,  merely  stating  that  his  errand  was  a  busi 
ness  one,  and  that  he  would  be  back  the  next  day. 
Roberta  knew  that  there  had  been  a  great  deal  of 
business,  particularly  that  of  an  unpleasant  kind,  be 
tween  the  two  families,  but  she  did  not  believe  that 
there  was  any  ordinary  affair  concerning  dollars  and 
cents  which  would  require  the  presence  of  her  uncle 
at  the  house  of  his  old  enemy.  She  was  very  much 
afraid  that  he  had  gone  there  to  try  to  smooth 
up  matters  in  regard  to  Junius  and  herself.  The 
thought  of  this  made  her  indignant.  She  did  not 
know  what  her  uncle  would  say,  and  she  did  not 
want  him  to  say  anything.  He  could  not  make  the 
horrible  old  creature  change  her  mind  in  regard  to 
the  marriage,  and  if  this  was  not  done,  there  was 
no  use  discussing  the  matter  at  all,  and  she  did  not 
wish  people  to  think  she  was  anxious  for  the  match. 

It  was  plain,  however,  that  her  uncle's  desire 
for  it  had  experienced  a  strong  revival ;  and  the  un 
expected  return  of  Lawrence  Croft  had  probably  had 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  109 

a  great  effect  on  him.  He  had  not  objected  to  the 
visits  of  that  gentleman  during  the  summer,  but  he 
had  never  shown  any  strong  liking  for  him,  and  Ro 
berta  said  to  herself  that  she  could  not  see,  for  her 
part,  why  this  should  be ;  Mr  Croft  was  a  thorough 
gentleman,  an  exceedingly  well  educated  and  agree 
able  man. 

As  to  Junius,  she  was  afraid  that  he  had  not  the 
spirit  which  she  used  to  think  he  possessed.  There 
was  something  about  him  she  could  not  understand. 
In  former  days,  when  Junius  was  in  New  York, 
she  compared  him  with  the  young  men  there,  very 
much  to  his  advantage,  but  now  Mr  Croft  seemed 
to  throw  him  somewhat  in  the  background.  When 
Croft  wanted  to  do  anything  he  did  it ;  even  his 
failure  to  come  to  her  when  he  said  he  would  do  so 
showed  strength  of  will.  If  Junius  had  promised  to 
come  he  would  have  come,  even  if  he  had  not 
wanted  to  do  so,  and  there  would  have  been  some 
thing  weak  about  that. 

While  she  thus  sat  thinking,  and  gazing  over  the 
landscape,  she  saw  afar  off,  on  a  portion  of  the  road 
which  ran  along-side  the  woods,  a  vehicle  slowly 
making  its  way  to  the  house.  Roberta  had  large 
and  beautiful  eyes,  but  they  were  not  of  the  kind 
which  would  enable  her  to  discover  at  so  great  a 
distance  what  sort  of  vehicle  this  was,  and  who  was 
in  it.  As  the  road  led  nowhere  but  to  Midbranch 
she  was  naturally  desirous  to  know  who  was  coming. 
She  stepped  into  the  hall,  and,  taking  a  small  bell, 
rang  it  vigorously,  and  in  a  moment  her  youthful 


i  io  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

handmaiden,    Peggy,    appeared    upon    the    scene. 
Peggy's  habit  of  projecting  her  eyes  into  the  far 
away  could    often  be  turned  to  practical  account 
for  her  vision  was,  in  a  measure,  telescopic, 

"What  is  that  coming  here  along  the  road?" 
asked  Miss  Roberta,  stepping  upon  the  porch,  and 
pointing  out  the  distant  vehicle. 

Peggy  stood  up  straight,  let  her  arms  hang  close 
to  her  sides,  and  looked  steadfastly  forth.  "  Wot's 
comin',  Miss  Rob,"  said  she,  "  is  the  buggy  'longin' 
to  Mister  Michaels,  at  de  Springs,  an'  his  ole  mud- 
colored  hoss  is  haulin'  it.  Dem  dat's  in  it  is  Mahs' 
Junius  an'  Mister  Crof ." 

"  Are  you  sure  of  that  ?  "  exclaimed  Miss  Roberta 
in  astonishment.  "  Look  again." 

"  Yaas'm,"  replied  Peggy.  "  I's  sartin  shuh.  But 
dey  jes  gwine  behin'  de  trees  now." 

The  road  was  not  again  visible  for  some  distance, 
but  when  the  buggy  reappeared  Peggy  gave  a  start, 
and  exclaimed  :  "  Dar's  on'y  one  pusson  in  it  now, 
Miss  Rob. " 

"  Which  is  it  ?  "  exclaimed  her  mistress  quickly, 
shading  her  eyes,  and  endeavoring  to  see  for  her 
self. 

"It's  Mister  CroP,"  said  Peggy.  "  Mahs'  Junius 
mus'  done  gone  back." 

"  It  is  too  bad  !  "  exclaimed  Miss  Roberta.  "  I 
will  not  see  him.  "  Peggy,"  she  said,  snatching  up 
the  key  basket,  and  stepping  toward  the  hall  door, 
"  when  that  gentleman,  Mr  Croft,  comes,  you  must 
tell  him  that  I  am  up-stairs  lying  down,  that  I  am 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  in 

not  well,  and  cannot  see  him,  and  that  your  Master 
Robert  is  not  at  home." 

"  Ef  Mahs'  Junius  come,  does  you  want  me  to  tell 
him  de  same  thing?  " 

"  But  you  said  he  was  not  in  the  buggy,"  said  her 
mistress. 

"  No'm,"  answered  Peggy,  "  but  p'raps  he  done 
cut  acrost  de  plough  fiel',  an'  git  h'yar  fus'." 

"  If  he  comes  first,"  said  Miss  Roberta,  a  shade  of 
severity  pervading  her  handsome  features,  "  I  want 
to  see  him."  And  with  this,  she  went  up-stairs. 

Peggy,  with  her  shoes  on,  possessed  the  stolid 
steadiness  of  a  wooden  grenadier,  for  the  heaviness 
of  the  massive  boots  seemed  to  permeate  her  whole 
being,  and  communicated  what  might  be  considered 
a  slow  and  heavy  footfall  to  her  intellect.  Peggy, 
without  shoes,  was  a  panther  on  two  legs,  and  her 
mind,  like  her  body,  was  capable  of  enormous  leaps. 
Slipping  off  her  heavy  brogans,  she  made  a  single 
bound,  and  stood  upon  the  railing  of  the  porch,  and, 
throwing  her  arm  around  a  post,  gazed  forth  from 
this  point  of  vantage. 

"  Bress  my  eberlastin'  soul  !  "  she  exclaimed,  "  if 
Mister  Crof  ain't  got  ter  de  road  gate,  and  is  a 
wait  in'  dar  fur  somebody  to  come  open  it !  Does 
he  think  anybody  gwine  to  see  him  all  de  way  from 
de  house,  and  come  open  de  gate?  Reckin'  he  don' 
know  dat  ole  mud-color  hoss.  He  mought  git  out 
and  let  down  de  whole  fence,  an'  dat  ole  hoss  ud 
nebber  move.  Bress  my  soul  moh'  p'intedly !  ef 
Mahs'  Junius  ain't  comin'  'long  ter  open  de  gate  !  " 


1 1 2  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

For  a  few  moments  Peggy  stood  and  stared,  her 
mind  not  capable  of  grasping  this  astounding  situa 
tion.  "  No,  he  ain't  nudder!"  she  presently  ex 
claimed  with  an  air  of  relief.  Mans'  Junius  done 
tole  him  dat  ef  he  want  dat  gate  open  he  better  git 
down  and  open  it  hese'f.  Dat's  right  Mahs'  Junius ! 
Stick  up  to  dat !  Dar  go  Mahs'  Junius  into  de 
woods  an'  Mister  Crof  he  git  out,  an'  go  after  him. 
Dey's  gwine  to  fight,  sartin,  shuh  !  Lordee !  wot 
fur  dey  'low  dem  bushes  ter  grow  'long  de  fence  to 
keep  folks  from  seem'  wot's  gwine  on  !  " 

There  was  nothing  now  to  be  seen  from  the  rail 
ing,  and  Peggy  jumped  down  on  the  porch.  Her  ac 
tivity  seemed  to  pervade  her  being.  She  ran  down 
the  front  steps,  crossed  the  lawn,  and  mounted  the 
stile.  Here  she  could  catch  sight  of  the  two  men 
who  seemed  to  be  disputing.  This  was  too  much 
for  Peggy.  If  there  was  to  be  a  fight  she  wanted  to 
see  it ;  and,  apart  from  her  curiosity,  she  had  a  loyal 
interest  in  the  event.  Down  the  steps,  and  along 
the  road  she  went  at  the  top  of  her  speed,  and  soon 
reached  the  gate.  Her  arrival  was  not  noticed  by 
any  one  except  the  mud-colored  horse,  who  gazed 
at  her  inquiringly  ;  and  looking  through  the  bars, 
without  opening  the  gate,  Peggy  had  a  good  view  of 
the  gentlemen. 

The  situation  was  a  more  simple  one  than  Peggy 
had  imagined.  The  road,  for  the  last  half  mile, 
had  been  an  up-hill  one,  and  Keswick,  as  much 
to  stretch  his  own  legs  as  to  save  those  of  the  horse, 
had  alighted  to  walk,  while  Lawrence,  as  in  duty 


The  Late  Mrs  Nut/.  113 

bound,  had  waited  for  him  at  the  gate.  Here  a  lit 
tle  argument  had  arisen.  Keswick,  who  did  not 
wish  to  be  at  the  house,  or  indeed  about  the  place 
while  Roberta  was  having  her  conference  with  Mr 
Croft,  had  said  that  he  had  concluded  not  to  go  up 
to  the  house  at  present,  but  would  take  a  walk 
through  the  woods  instead.  Lawrence,  who  thought 
he  divined  his  reason,  felt  an  honorable  indisposition 
to  accept  this  advantage  at  the  hands  of  a  man  who 
was,  most  indisputably,  his  rival.  If  they  went 
together  it  would  not  appear  as  if  he  had  waited 
for  Keswick's  absence  to  return ;  and  there  would 
still  be  no  reason  why  he  should  not  have  his  private 
walk  and  talk  with  Miss  March. 

At  all  events,  it  seemed  to  him  unfair  to  leave 
Keswick  at  the  gate  while  he  went  up  to  the  house 
by  himself,  and  the  notion  of  it  did  not  please  him 
at  all.  Keswick,  however,  was  very  resolute  in  his 
opposition.  He  objected  even  to  seeing  Roberta 
and  Croft  together.  He  thought,  besides,  if  he  and 
Croft  came  to  the  house  at  the  same  time  it  would 
appear  very  much  as  if  he,  Junius,  had  brought  the 
other,  and  this  was  an  appearance  he  wished  very 
much  to  avoid.  He  had  walked  away,  and  Law 
rence  had  jumped  from  the  buggy  to  continue  the 
friendly  argument  which  was  not  finished  when 
Peggy  arrived.  Almost  immediately  after  this 
event  Keswick  positively  insisted  that  he  would  go 
for  a  walk,  and  Lawrence  reluctantly  turned  toward 
the  vehicle. 

Peggy's  mind  was  filled  with  horror.    Master  Jun- 

8 


H4  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

ius  had  been  frightened  away,  and  the  other  man 
was  coming  up  to  the  house  !  She  could  not  stand 
there  and  allow  such  a  catastrophe.  Jerking  open 
the  gate,  she  rushed  into  the  road  and  confronted 
Keswick. 

"  Mahs'  Junius,"  she  exclaimed,  "  Miss  Rob's  orful 
sick  wid  her  back  an'  her  j'ints,  an'  she  say  she  can't 
see  no  kump'ny  folks,  an'  Mahs'  Robert  he  done  gone 
away  to  see  ole  Miss  Keswick.  I  jes  run  down 
h'yar  to  tell  you  to  hurry  up." 

Keswick  started.  "  Where  did  you  say  your  Mas 
ter  Robert  had  gone  ?  " 

"  To  ole  Miss  Keswick's.     He  went  dis  mawnin'." 

Junius  turned  slightly  pale,  and  addressing  Mr 
Croft,  said :  "  Something  very  strange  must  have 
happened  here !  Miss  March  is  ill,  and  Mr.  Brandon 
has  gone  to  a  place  to  which  I  think  nothing  but 
a  matter  of  the  utmost  importance  could  take 
him." 

"  In  that  case,"  said  Mr  Croft,  "  it  will  be  highly 
improper  for  me  to  go  to  the  house  just  now.  I  am 
very  glad  that  I  heard  the  news  before  I  got  there. 
I  will  return  to  the  Springs,  and  will  call  to-morrow 
and  inquire  after  Miss  March's  health.  Do  not  let 
me  detain  you  as  your  presence  is  evidently  much 
needed  at  the  house." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Keswick,  hurriedly  shaking 
hands  with  him.  "  I  am  afraid  something  very  un 
expected  has  happened,  and  so  beg  you  will  excuse 
me.  Good-morning."  And  passing  through  the 
gateway,  he  rapidly  strode  toward  the  house,  while 


The  Late  Mrs  N<u II.  115 

Lawrence  prepared  to  turn  his  horse's  head  toward 
the  Springs. 

But,  although  Junius  Keswick  walked  rapidly, 
Peggy,  who  had  started  first  for  the  house,  kept  well 
in  advance  of  him.  Away  she  went,  skipping,  run 
ning,  dancing.  Once  she  stopped  and  turned,  and 
saw  that  the  buggy,  with  the  mud-colored  horse, 
was  being  driven  awray,  and  that  Master  Junius  was 
coming  along  the  road  to  the  house.  Then  she 
started  off,  and  ran  steadily,  the  rapid  show  of  the 
light-colored  soles  of  her  feet  -behind  her  suggestive 
of  a  steamer's  wake.  Up  the  broad  stile  she  went, 
two  steps  at  a  time,  and  down  the  other  side  in  a 
couple  of  jumps ;  a  dozen  skips  took  her  across  the 
lawn ;  and  she  bounded  up  to  the  porch  as  if  each 
wooden  step  had  been  a  springing  board.  She 
rushed  up-stairs,  and  stood  at  the  open  door  of  Miss 
Roberta's  room  where  that  lady  reclined  upon  a 
lounge. 

"  Hi',  Miss  Rob ! "  she  exclaimed,  involuntarily 
snapping  her  fingers  as  she  spoke.  Mahs'  Junius 
comin',  all  by  hese'f,  an'  I  done  sent  de  udder  gem- 
man  clean  off,  kitin' !  " 


CHAPTER  X. 

JUNIUS  KESWICK  was  received  by  Miss  Roberta 
in  the  parlor.  Her  face  was  colder  and  sterner  than 
he  had  ever  seen  it  before,  and  his  countenance  was 
very  much  troubled.  Each  wished  to  speak  first, 
and  ask  questions,  but  the  lady  went  immediately 
to  the  front. 

"  How  did  it  happen  that  you  and  Mr  Croft  were 
coming  here  together  ?  Where  had  you  been  ?  " 

"  We  came  from  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs, 
where  I  called  on  him  this  morning." 

"  I  thought  he  was  obliged  to  return  immediately 
to  the  North.  What  made  him  change  his  mind  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  it  will  be  better  not  to  discuss  that 
now,"  said  Junius. 

"  I  wish  to  discuss  it,"  was  the  reply.  "  What 
induced  him  not  to  go  ?  " 

"  I  did,"  answered  Junius,"  looking  steadfastly  at 
her.  "  Did  you  not  wish  to  see  him  ?  " 

For  a  moment  Miss  Roberta  did  not  answer,  but 
her  face  grew  pale,  and  she  threw  herself  back  in  the 
chair  in  which  she  was  sitting.  "  Never  in  my  life," 
she  said,  "  have  I  been  subjected  to  such  mortifica 
tion  !  Of  course  I  wished  him  to  come,  but  to 
come  of  his  own  accord,  and  not  at  my  bidding. 
How  do  you  suppose  I  would  have  felt  if  he  had 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  117 

presented  himself,  and  asked  me  what  I  wished  to 
say  to  him  ?  It  is  an  insult  you  have  offered  me." 

"  It  is  not  an  insult,"  said  Keswick  quietly.  "  It 
was  a  service  of — of  affection.  I  saw  that  you  were 
annoyed  and  troubled  by  Mr.  Croft's  failure  to  keep 
his  engagement,  and  what  I  did  was  simply " 

"  Stop  !  "  said  Roberta  peremptorily.  "  I  do  not 
wish  to  talk  of  it  any  more." 

Junius  stood  before  her  a  moment  in  silence,  and 
then  he  said :  "  Will  you  tell  me  if  my  Aunt  Kes 
wick  is  ill  or  dead,  and  why  did  Mr  Brandon  go 
there  ?  " 

"  She  is  neither  ;  "  answered  Roberta,  "  and  he 
went  there  on  business."  And  with  this  she  arose 
and  left  the  room. 

Peggy,  who  had  been  in  the  hall,  now  made  a  bolt 
down  the  back  stairs  into  the  basement  regions, 
where  was  situated  the  kitchen.  In  this  spacious 
apartment  she  found  Aunt  Judy,  the  cook,  sitting 
before  a  large  wood  fire,  and  holding  in  her  hand  a 
long  iron  ladle.  There  was  nothing  near  her  which 
she  could  dip  or  stir  with  a  ladle,  and  it  was 
probably  retained  during  her  period  of  leisure  as  a 
symbol  of  her  position  and  authority. 

Peggy  squatted  on  her  heels,  close  to  Aunt  Judy's 
side,  and  thus  addressed  her  :  "  Aun'  Judy,  ef  I  tell 
you  sumfin',  soul  an'  honor,  hope  o'  glory,  you'll 
neber  tell  ?  " 

"  Hope  o'  glory,  neber !  "  said  Aunt  Judy,  turning 
a  look  of  interest  on  the  girl. 

"Well,  den,  look  h'yar.     You  know  Miss  Rob  she 


ii8  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

got  two  beaux  ;  one  is  Mahs'  Junius,  an'  de  udder 
is  de  gemman  wid  de  speckle  trousers  from  de 
Norf." 

"  Yes,  I  know  dat,"  said  Aunt  Judy.  "  Has  dey 
fit?" 

"  Not  yit,  but  dey  wos  gvvine  to,"  said  Peggy, 
"but  I  seed  'em,  an*  I  tore  down  de  road  to  de  gate 
whar  dey  wos  gittin  ready  to  fight,  an*  I  jes'  let  dat 
dar  Mister  Crof  know  wot  low-down  white  trash 
Miss  Rob  think  he  wos,  an'  den  he  said  ef  dat  war 
so  'twant  no  use  fur  to  come  in,  an'  he  turn'  roun* 
de  buggy,  an'  cl'ar'd  out.  Den  Mahs'  Junius  he 
come  to  de  house,  an'  dar  Miss  Rob  in  de  parlor 
wait  in'  fur  him.  I  stood  jes'  outside  de  doh',  so's  to 
be  out  de  way,  but  Mahs'  Junius  he  kinder  back 
agin  de  doh',  an'  shet  it.  But  I  clap'd  my  year  ter 
de  crack,  an'  I  hear  ebery thing  dey  said." 

"Wot  dey  say?"  asked  Aunt  Judy,  her  mouth 
open,  her  eyes  dilated,  and  the  long  ladle  trembling 
in  her  hand. 

"  Mahs'  Junius  he  say  to  Miss  Rob  that  he  lub 
her  better'n  his  own  skin,  or  de  clouds  in  de  sky,  or 
de  flowers  in  de  fiel'  wot  perish,  an'  dat  de  udder  man 
he  done  cut  an'  run,  an'  would  she  be  Miss  Junius 
all  de  res'  ob  der  libes  foreber  an'  eber,  amen?" 

"  Dat  wos  pow'ful  movin' !  "  ejaculated  Aunt 
Judy.  "  An'  wot  did  Miss  Rob  say  ?  " 

"  Miss  Rob  she  say,  *  I  'cept  your  kind  offer,  sah, 
wid  pleasure.'  An'  den  I  hearn  'em  comin',  an'  I 
cut  down  h'yar." 

"  Glory !    Hallelujah ! "    exclaimed    Aunt    Judy, 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  119 

bringing  her  ladle  down  upon  the  brick  hearth. 
"  Now  is  I  ready  to  die  when  my  time  comes,  fur 
Mahs'  Junius  '11  have  dis  farm,  an'  de  house,  an'  de 
cabins,  an'  dey  won't  go  to  no  strahnger  from  de 
Norf." 

"  Amen,"  said  Peggy.  "  An'  Aun'  Judy,  dat  ar 
piece  ob  pie  ain't  no  'count  to  nobuddy." 

"  You  kin  hab  it,  chile,"  said  Aunt  Judy,  rising, 
and  taking  from  a  shelf  a  large  piece  of  cold  apple 
pie,  "  an*  bressed  be  de  foots  ob  dem  wot  fotch  good 
tidin's." 

Junius  Keswick  did  not  see  Miss  Roberta  again 
that  day,  and  early  in  the  morning  he  borrowed  one 
of  the  Midbranch  horses,  and  rode  away.  He  did 
not  wish  to  be  at  the  house  when  Mr  Croft  should 
come  ;  and,  besides,  he  was  very  anxious  and  dis 
turbed  in  regard  to  matters  at  the  Keswick  farm. 
Of  all  places  in  the  world  why  should  Mr  Brandon 
go  there  ? 

It  was  not  a  very  pleasant  ride  that  Junius  Kes 
wick  took  that  morning.  He  had  anxieties  in  regard 
to  what  he  would  meet  with  at  his  aunt's  house, 
and  he  had  even  greater  anxieties  as  to  what  he 
was  leaving  behind  him  at  Midbranch.  It  was  quite 
evident  that  Roberta  was  angry  with  him,  and  this 
was  enough  to  sadden  the  soul  of  a  man  who  loved 
her  as  he  loved  her,  who  would  have  married  her  at 
any  moment,  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  all  threats, 
all  curses.  He  was  not  in  the  habit  of  looking  at 
himself  after  the  manner  of  Lawrence  Croft,  but  on 
this  occasion  he  could  not  help  a  little  self-survey. 


120  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Was  it  a  purely  disinterested  motive  he  asked  him 
self,  that  took  him  over  to  the  Springs  to  bring 
back  Lawrence  Croft  ?  Did  he  not  believe  in  his 
soul  that  Roberta  would  never  have  spoken  so 
freely  to  him  in  regard  to  what  the  gentleman  from 
the  North  would  probably  say  to  her  if  she  had  not 
intended  to  decline  that  gentleman's  offer  ?  And 
was  there  not  a  wish  in  his  heart  that  this  matter 
might  be  definitely  and  satisfactorily  settled  before 
Roberta  and  Mr  Croft  went  to  New  York  for  the 
winter?  He  could  not  deny  that  this  issue  to  the 
affair  had  been  in  his  mind ;  and  yet  he  felt  that  he 
could  conscientiously  assure  himself  that  if  he  had 
thought  things  would  turn  out  otherwise,  he  still 
would  have  endeavored  to  make  the  man  perform  the 
duty  expected  of  him  by  Roberta,  in  whose  service 
Junius  always  felt  himself  to  be.  But,  apparently, 
he  had  not  benefited  himself  or  anybody  else,  ex 
cept,  perhaps,  Croft,  by  this  service  which  he  had 
performed. 

It  was  late  in  the  forenoon  when  Junius  met  Mr 
Brandon  returning  to  Midbranch.  In  answer  to 
his  expressions  of  surprise,  Mr  Brandon,  who  ap^ 
peared  in  an  exceptionally  good  humor,  informed 
Junius  of  his  reasons  for  the  visit  to  the  widow 
Keswick,  and  what  he  had  found  when  he  arrived 
there. 

"  Your  little  cousin,"  said  he,  "  is  a  most  charming 
young  creature,  and  on  interested  motives  I  should 
oppose  your  going  to  your  aunt's  house,  were  it  not 
for  the  fact  that  she  is  married,  and,  therefore,  of  no 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  121 

danger  to  you.  I  was  very  glad  to  find  her  there. 
Her  influence  over  your  aunt  will,  I  think,  be  highly 
advantageous,  and  the  first  fruit  of  it  is  that  the  old 
lady  will  now  welcome  you  with  open  arms.  Would 
you  believe  it !  she  has  already  announced  that  she 
wishes  to  make  a  match  between  you  and  this  little 
cousin ;  and  in  order  to  do  so,  has  actually  engaged 
me  to  endeavor  to  bring  about  a  divorce  between 
the  young  lady  and  her  absent  husband.  The 
widow  Keswick  has  as  many  cranks  and  crotchets  in 
her  head  as  there  are  seeds  in  a  tobacco  pod  ;  but 
this  is  the  queerest  and  the  wildest  of  them  all. 
The  couple  seem  very  much  attached  to  each  other, 
and  nothing  can  be  said  against  the  husband  except 
that  he  did  not  accompany  his  wife  on  her  visit  to 
her  relatives ;  and  if  he  knew  anythi-ng  about  the 
old  lady  I  don't  blame  him  a  bit.  Now  your  course, 
my  dear  boy,  is  perfectly  plain.  Let  your  aunt  talk 
as  much  as  she  pleases  about  this  divorce,  and  your 
union  with  the  little  Annie,  It  won't  hurt  anybody, 
and  she  must  talk  herself  out  in  time.  In  the  mean 
time  take  advantage  of  the  present  circumstances  to 
mollify  and  tone  down,  so  to  speak,  the  good  old 
lady.  Make  her  understand  that  we  are  all  her 
friends,  and  that  there  is  no  one  in  the  connection 
who  would  wish  to  do  her  the  slightest  harm.  This 
would  be  our  Christian  duty  at  any  time,  but  it  is 
more  particularly  our  duty  now.  I  would  like  you 
to  bring  your  cousin  over  to  see  us  before  Roberta 
goes  away.  I  invited  her  to  come,  and  told  her  that 
my  niece  would  first  call  upon  her  were  it  not  for 


122  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

the  peculiar  circumstances.  But  if  the  families  can 
be  in  a  measure  brought  together — and  I  shall  make 
it  a  point  to  ride  over  there  occasionally — if  your 
aunt  can  be  made  to  understand  the  kindly  feelings 
we  really  have  toward  her,  and  can  be  induced  to  set 
aside,  even  in  a  slight  degree,  the  violent  prejudice 
she  now  holds  against  us,  all  may  yet  turn  out  well. 
Now  go,  my  boy,  and  may  the  best  of  success  go 
with  you.  Don't  trouble  yourself  about  sending 
back  the  horse.  Keep  him  as  long  as  you  want 
him." 

Mr  Brandon  rode  on,  leaving  Junius  to  pursue 
his  way.  "  It  is  very  pleasant,"  thought  the  young 
man,  who  had  said  scarcely  a  word  during  the  inter 
view,  "  to  hear  Mr  Brandon  talk  about  all  turning 
out  well,  but  when  he  gets  home  he  may  discover 
that  there  is  something  to  be  done  at  Midbranch  as 
well  as  on  the  Keswick  place." 

Mr  Brandon's  reflections  were  very  different  from 
those  of  Junius.  It  appeared  to  him  that  a  recon 
ciliation  between  the  two  families,  even  though  it 
should  be  a  partial  one,  was  reasonably  to  be  ex 
pected.  That  newly  arrived  cousin  was  an  angel. 
She  was  bound  to  do  good.  A  marriage  between 
his  niece  and  Junius  Keswick  was  the  great  object  of 
the  old  gentleman's  heart,  and  he  longed  to  see  the 
former  engagement  between  them  re-established  be 
fore  Roberta  went  to  New  York,  where  her  beauty 
and  attractiveness  would  expose  his  cherished  plan 
to  many  dangers. 

The  road  he  was  on  led  directly  north,  and  it  was 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  123 

joined  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above  by  the  road 
which  ran  through  the  woods  to  the  Green  Sulphur 
Springs.  On  this  road,  at  a  point  nearly  opposite 
to  him,  he  could  see,  through  the  foliage,  a  horse 
man  riding  toward  the  point  of  junction.  Some 
thing  about  this  person  attracted  his  attention,  and 
Mr  Brandon  took  out  a  pair  of  eye-glasses  and  put 
them  on.  As  soon  as  he  had  obtained  another  good 
view  of  the  horseman  he  recognized  him  as  Mr 
Croft.  The  old  gentleman  took  off  his  glasses  and 
returned  them  to  his  vest  pocket,  and  his  face  began 
to  flush.  In  his  early  acquaintance  with  Mr  Croft 
he  had  not  objected  to  him,  because  he  wished  his 
niece  to  have  company,  and  he  had  a  firm  belief  in 
the  enduring  quality  of  her  affection  for  Junius. 
But,  latterly,  his  ideas  in  regard  to  the  New  York 
gentleman  had  changed.  He  had  thought  him  some 
what  too  assiduous,  and  when  he  had  unexpectedly 
returned  from  the  North,  Mr  Brandon  had  not  been 
at  all  pleased,  although  he  had  been  careful  not  to 
show  his  displeasure.  This  condition  of  things 
made  him  feel  uneasy,  and  had  prompted  his  visit  to 
the  widow  Keswick.  And  now  that  everything 
looked  so  fair  and  promising,  here  was  that  man, 
whom  he  had  supposed  to  have  left  this  part  of  the 
country,  riding  toward  his  house. 

Mr  Brandon  was  an  easy-going  man,  but  he  had  a 
backbone  which  could  be  greatly  stiffened  on  occa 
sion.  He  sat  up  very  straight  on  his  horse,  and 
urged  the  animal  to  a  better  pace,  so  that  he  arrived 
first  at  the  point  where  the  roads  met.  Here  he 


124  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

awaited  Mr  Croft,  who  soon  rode  up.  The  old  gen 
tleman's  greeting  was  very  courteous. 

"  You  are  on  the  way  to  my  house,  I  presume," 
he  said. 

Mr  Croft  assured  him  that  he  was,  and  hoped  that 
Miss  March  was  quite  well.  • 

"  I  have  been  from  home  for  a  little  while,"  said 
Mr  Brandon,  "  but  I  believe  my  niece  enjoys  her 
usual  health.  I  have  had  a  long  ride  this  morning," 
he  continued,  "  and  feel  a  little  tired.  Would  it  in 
convenience  you,  sir,  if  we  should  dismount  and  sit 
for  a  time  on  yonder  log  by  the  roadside  ?  It  would 
rest  me,  and  I  would  like  to  have  a  little  talk  with 
you." 

Lawrence  wondered  very  much  that  the  old  gen 
tleman  should  want  to  rest  when  he  was  not  a  mile 
from  his  own  house,  but  of  course  he  consented  to 
the  proposed  plan,  and  imitated  Mr  Brandon  by 
riding  under  a  large  tree,  and  fastening  his  bridle  to 
a  low-hanging  bough.  The  two  gentlemen  seated 
themselves  on  the  log,  and  Mr  Brandon,  without 
preface,  began  his  remarks. 

"  May  I  be  pardoned  for  supposing,  sir,"  he  said, 
"  that  your  present  visit  to  my  house  is  intended  for 
my  niece  ?  " 

Lawrence  looked  at  him  a  little  earnestly,  and  re 
plied  that  it  was  so  intended. 

"  Then,  sir,  I  think  I  have  the  right  to  ask,  as  my 
niece's  present  guardian,  and  almost  indeed  as  her 
father,  whether  or  not  your  visit  is  connected  in  any 
way  with  matrimonial  overtures  toward  that  lady?" 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  125 

Not  wishing  to  foolishly  and  dishonorably  deny 
that  such  was  his  purpose  in  going  to  Midbranch ; 
and  feeling  that  it  would  be  as  unwise  to  decline  an 
swering  the  question  as  it  would  be  unmanly  to  re 
sort  to  subterfuge  about  it,  Lawrence  replied,  that 
his  object  in  visiting  Miss  March  that  day  was  to 
make  matrimonial  overtures  to  her. 

"  I  think,"  said  Mr  Brandon,  "  that  you  will  be 
obliged  to  me  if  I  make  you  acquainted  with  the 
present  condition  of  affairs  between  Miss  March 
and  Mr  Junius  Keswick." 

"  Has  not  their  engagement  been  broken  off  ? " 
interrupted  Lawrence. 

"Only  conditionally,"  answered  the  old  gentle 
man.  "  They  love  each  other.  They  wish  to  be 
married.  With  one  exception,  all  their  relatives  de 
sire  that  they  should  marry.  It  would  be  a  union, 
not  only  congenial  in  the  highest  degree  to  the  par 
ties  concerned,  but  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  our 
family  and  our  family  fortunes.  There  is  but  a  sin 
gle  obstacle  to  this  most  desirable  union,  and  that 
is  the  unwarrantable  opposition  of  one  person.  But, 
I  am  happy  to  say  that  this  opposition  is  on  the 
point  of  being  removed.  I  consider  it  to  be  but  a 
matter  of  days  when  my  niece  and  Mr  Keswick,  with 
the  full  approbation  of  the  relatives  on  either  side, 
will  renew  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  that  engagement 
which  I  consider  still  exists  in  fact." 

"  If  this  is  so,"  said  Lawrence,  grinding  his  heel 
very  deeply  into  the  ground,  "  why  was  I  not  told 
of  it?" 


126  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  My  dear  sir ! "  exclaimed  Mr  Brandon,  "  have 
you  ever  intimated  to  me  or  to  any  of  my  family,  that 
your  intentions  in  visiting  Midbranch  were  other 
than  those  of  an  ordinary  friend  or  acquaintance  ?  " 

Lawrence  ^admitted  that  he  had  never  made  any 
such  intimation. 

"  Then,  sir,"  said  Mr  Brandon,  "what  reason  could 
we  have  for  mentioning  this  subject  to  you — a  sub 
ject  that  would  not  have  been  referred  to  now,  had 
it  not  been  for  your  admission  of  your  intended  ob 
ject  in  visiting  my  house  ?  " 

Lawrence  had  no  answer  to  make  to  this,  but  it 
was  not  easy  to  turn  him  from  his  purpose.  "  Ex 
cuse  me,  sir,"  he  said,  "  but  I  think  a  matter  of  this 
sort  should  be  left  to  the  lady.  If  she  is  not  in 
clined  to  receive  my  addresses  she  will  say  so,  and 
there  is  an  end  of  it." 

The  face  of  Mr  Brandon  slightly  reddened,  but 
his  voice  remained  as  quiet  and  courteous  as  before. 
"  You  do  not  comprehend,  sir,  the  state  of  affairs,  or 
you  would  see  that  a  procedure  of  that  kind  would 
be  extremely  ill-judged  at  this  time.  Were  it  known 
that  at  this  critical  moment  Miss  March  was  ad 
dressed  by  another  suitor,  it  would  seriously  jeopar 
dize  the  success  of  plans  which  we  all  have  very 
much  at  heart." 

Lawrence  did  not  immediately  reply  to  this  crafty 
speech.  His  teeth  were  very  firmly  set,  and  he 
looked  steadfastly  before  him.  "  I  do  not  under 
stand  all  this,"  he  said,  presently,  "nor  do  I  see  that 
there  is  any  need  for  my  understanding  it.  In  fact 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  127 

I  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  I  wish  to  propose 
marriage  to  Miss  March.  If  she  declines  my  offer 
there  is  an  end  of  the  matter.  If  she  accepts  me, 
then  it  is  quite  proper  that  all  your  plans  should  fall 
to  the  ground.  She  is  the  principal  in  the  affair,  and 
it  is  due  to  her  and  due  to  me  that  she  should  make 
the  decision  in  this  case." 

Mr  Brandon  had  not  quite  so  many  teeth  as  his 
younger  companion,  but  the  very  fair  number  which 
remained  with  him  were  set  together  quite  as  firmly 
as  those  of  Lawrence  had  been.  He  remarked, 
speaking  very  distinctly  but  without  any  show  of 
emotion :  "  I  see,  sir,  that  it  is  quite  impossible  for 
us  to  think  alike  on  this  subject,  and  there  is,  there 
fore,  nothing  left  for  me  to  do  but  to  ask  you — and 
1  assure  you,  sir,  that  the  request  is  as  destitute  of 
any  intention  of  discourtesy  as  if  it  were  based  upon 
the  presence  of  sickness  or  family  affliction — that 
you  will  not  visit  my  house  at  present. " 

Lawrence  rose  to  his  feet  with  a  good  deal  of 
color  in  his  face.  "  That  settles  the  matter  for  the 
present,"  he  saicT  "  Of  course  I  shall  not  go  to  a 
house  which  is  forbidden  to  me.  I  wish  you  good- 
morning,  sir."  And  he  stalked  to  his  horse,  and  en 
deavored  to  pull  down  the  limb  to  which  its  bridle 
was  attached. 

Mr  Brandon  followed  him.  "  You  must  mount 
before  you  can  unfasten  your  bridle,"  he  said.  "  And 
allow  me  to  assure  you,  sir,  that  as  soon  as  this  lit 
tle  affair  is  settled  I  shall  be  very  happy  indeed  to 
see  you  again  at  my  house." 


128  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Lawrence  having  succeeded  in  loosening  his  bridle 
from  the  tree,  made  answer  with  a  bow,  and  galloped 
away  to  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs. 

Mr  Brandon  now  mounted  and  rode  home.  This 
was  the  first  time  in  his  life  that  he  had  ever  for 
bidden  any  one  to  visit  Midbranch,  and  yet  he  did 
not  feel  that  he  had  been  either  discourteous  or  in 
hospitable.  "  There  are  times,"  he  said  to  himself, 
"  when  a  man  must  stand  up  for  his  own  interest ; 
and  this  is  one  of  the  times." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

IN  the  little  dining-room  of  the  cottage  at  the 
Green  Sulphur  Springs  sat  that  evening  Lawrence 
Croft,  a  perturbed  and  angry,  but  a  resolute  man. 
He  had  been  quite  a  long  time  coming  to  the  con 
clusion  to  propose  to  Roberta  March,  and  now  that 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  do  so,  even  in  spite  of 
certain  convictions,  it  naturally  aroused  his  indigna 
tion  to  find  himself  suddenly  stopped  short  by  such 
an  insignificant  person  as  Mr  Brandon,  a  gentleman 
to  whom,  in  this  affair,  he  had  given  no  considera 
tion  whatever.  The  fact  that  the  lady  wished  to 
see  him  added  much  to  his  annoyance  and  discom 
fiture.  He  had  no  idea  what  reason  she  had  for 
desiring  an  interview  with  him,  but,  whatever  she 
should  say  to  him,  he  intended  to  follow  by  a  de 
claration  of  his  sentiments.  He  had  not  the  slightest 
notion  in  the  world  of  giving  up  the  prosecution  of 
his  suit ;  but,  having  been  requested  not  to  come  to 
Midbranch,  what  was  he  to  do  ?  He  might  write  to 
Miss  March,  but  that  would  not  suit  him.  In  a 
matter  like  this  he  would  wish  to  adapt  his  words  and 
his  manner  to  the  moods  and  disposition  of  the  lady, 
and  he  could  not  do  this  in  a  letter.  When  he 
wooed  a  woman,  he  must  see  her  and  speak  to  her. 
To  any  clandestine  approach,  any  whispered  con- 
9 


130  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

versation  beneath  her  window,  he  would  give  no 
thought.  Having  been  asked  by  the  master  of  the 
house  not  to  go  there,  he  would  not  go ;  but  he 
would  see  her,  and  tell  his  love.  And,  more  than 
that,  he  would  win  her. 

That  morning,  while  waiting  for  the  time  to  ap 
proach  when  it  would  be  proper  for  him  to  go  to 
Midbranch,  he  had  been  reading  in  a  bound  volume 
of  an  old  English  magazine,  which  was  one  of  the 
five  books  the  cottage  possessed,  an  account  of  a 
battle  which  had  interested  him  very  much.  The 
commander  of  one  army  had  massed  his  forces  along 
and  below  the  crest  of  a  line  of  low  hills,  the  ex 
treme  right  of  his  line  being  occupied  by  a  strong 
force  of  cavalry.  The  army  opposed  to  him  was 
much  stronger  than  his  own,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  the  battle  began  to  go  very  much  against 
him.  His  positions  on  the  left  were  carried  by  the 
combined  charge  of  the  larger  portion  of  the  en 
emy's  forces,  and,  in  spite  of  a  vigorous  resistance, 
his  lines  were  forced  back,  down  the  hill,  and  into 
the  valley.  It  was  quite  evident  he  could  make  no 
stand,  and  was  badly  beaten.  Thereupon,  he  sent 
orders  to  his  generals  on  the  left  to  retreat,  in  as 
good  order  as  possible,  across  a  small  river  in  their 
rear.  While  this  movement  was  in  progress,  and 
the  enemy  was  making  the  greatest  efforts  to  pre 
vent  it,  the  commander  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
his  cavalry  and  led  them  swiftly  from  the  scene  of 
battle.  He  took  them  diagonally  over  the  crest  of 
the  hill,  down  the  other  side,  and  then  charging 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  131 

with  this  fresh  body  of  horse  upon  the  rear  and 
camp  of  the  enemy,  he  swiftly  captured  the  general- 
in-chief,  his  staff,  and  the  Minister  of  War,  who  had 
come  down  to  see  how  things  were  going  on.  With 
these  important  prisoners  he  dashed  away,  leaving 
the  acephalous  enemy  to  capture  his  broken  col 
umns  if  he  could. 

This  was  the  kind  of  thing  Lawrence  Croft  would 
like  to  do.  For  an  hour  or  more  he  puzzled  his  brains 
as  to  how  he  should  make  such  a  cavalry  charge, 
and  at  last  he  came  to  a  determination ;  he  would 
ask  Junius  Keswick  to  assist  him.  There  was  some 
thing  odd  about  this  plan  which  pleased  Croft. 
Keswick  was  his  rival,  with  the  powerful  backing  of 
Mr  Brandon  and  a  whole  tribe  of  relatives,  and  it 
might  naturally  be  supposed  that  he  was  the  last 
man  in  the  world  of  whom  he  would  ask  assistance. 
But,  looking  at  it  from  his  point  of  view,  Lawrence 
thought  that  not  only  would  he  be  taking  no  undue 
advantage  of  the  other  in  asking  him  to  help  him  in 
this  matter,  but  that  Keswick  ought  not  and  would 
not  object  to  it.  If  Miss  March  really  preferred 
Croft,  Keswick  should  feel  himself  bound  in  honor 
to  do  everything  he  could  to  let  the  two  settle  the 
affair  between  themselves.  This  was  drawing  the 
point  very  fine,  but  Lawrence  persuaded  himself 
that  if  the  case  were  reversed  he  would  not  marry  a 
girl  who  had  not  chosen  another  man,  simply  be 
cause  she  had  had  no  opportunity  of  doing  so.  He 
had  a  strong  belief  that  Keswick  was  of  his  way  of 
thinking,  and  before  he  went  to  bed  he  wrote  his 


132  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

rival  a  note,  asking  him  to  call  upon  him  the  follow 
ing  day. 

Early  the  next  morning  the  note  was  carried  over 
to  Midbranch  by  a  messenger,  who  returned,  saying 
that  Mr  Keswick  had  gone  away,  and  that  his 
present  address  was  Hewlett's  in  the  same  county. 
This  piece  of  information  caused  Lawrence  Croft  to 
open  his  eyes  very  wide.  A  few  days  before  he 
had  received  a  letter  from  Mrs  Null,  written  at 
Hewlett's,  and  now  Keswick  had  gone  there.  He 
had  been  very  much  surprised  when  he  found  that 
the  cashier  had  so  successfully  carried  on  the  search 
for  Keswick  as  to  come  into  the  very  county  in 
Virginia  where  he  was  ;  and  he  intended  to  write  to 
her  that  he  had  no  further  occasion  for  her  services; 
but  he  had  not  done  so,  and  here  were  the  pursuer  and 
the  pursued  in  the  same  town,  or  village,  or  whatever 
Howlett's  was.  He  gave  Mrs  Null  credit  for  being 
one  of  the  best  detectives  he  had  ever  heard  of  ;  for, 
apparently,  she  had  not  only  been  able  to  success 
fully  track  the  man  she  was  in  search  of,  but  to  find 
out  where  he  was  going,  and  had  reached  the  place 
in  question  before  he  did.  But  he  also  berated  her 
soundly  in  his  mind  for  her  over-officiousness.  He 
had  not  wished  her  to  swoop  down  upon  the  man, 
but  only  to  inform  him  of  his  whereabouts.  The 
next  thing  that  would  probably  happen  would  be 
the  appearance  of  Mrs  Null  at  the  Green  Sulphur 
Springs,  holding  Keswick  by  the  collar.  He  deeply 
regretted  that  he  had  ever  intrusted  this  young 
woman  with  the  investigation,  not  because  he  had 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  133 

since  met  Keswick  himself,  but  for  the  reason  that 
she  was   entirely  too  energetic  and   imprudent.     If 
Keswick  should  find  out  from  her  that  she  had  been 
in  search  of  him,  and  why,  it  might  bring  about  a- 
very  unpleasant  state  of  affairs. 

Croft  saw  now,  quite  plainly,  what  he  must  do. 
He  must  go  to  Hewlett's  as  quickly  as  possible. 
Perhaps  Keswick  and  the  cashier  had  not  yet  met, 
and,  in  that  case,  all  he  would  have  to  do  would  be 
to  remunerate  the  young  woman  and  her  husband — 
for  she  had  informed  him  that  she  intended  to  com 
bine  this  business  with  a  wedding  tour — and  send 
them  off  immediately.  He  could  then  have  his  con 
ference  with  Keswick  there  as  well  as  at  the  Springs. 
If  any  mischief  had  already  been  done,  he  did  not 
know  what  course  he  might  have  to  pursue,  but  it 
was  highly  necessary  for  him  to  be  on  the  spot  as 
soon  as  possible.  He  greatly  disliked  to  leave  the 
neighborhood  of  Roberta  March,  but  his  absence 
would  only  be  temporary. 

After  an  early  dinner,  he  mounted  the  horse  which 
he  had  hired  from  his  host  of  the  Springs,  and,  with 
a  valise  strapped  behind  him,  set  out  for  Hewlett's. 
He  had  made  careful  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  road, 
and  after  a  ride  somewhat  tiresome  to  a  man  not 
used  to  such  protracted  horseback  exercise,  arrived 
at  his  destination  about  sundown.  When  he  reached 
the  scattered  houses  which  formed,  as  he  supposed, 
the  outskirts  of  the  village,  for  such  he  had  been  told 
it  was,  he  rode  on,  but  soon  found  that  he  had  left 
Hewlett's  behind  him,  and  that  those  supposed  out- 


134  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

skirts  were  the  place  itself.  Hewlett's  was  nothing, 
in  fact,  but  a  collection  of  eight  or  ten  houses  quite 
widely  separated  from  each  other,  and  the  only  one 
of  them  which  exhibited  any  public  character  what 
ever,  was  the  store,  a  large  frame  building  standing  a 
little  back  from  the  road.  Turning  his  horse,  Law 
rence  rode  up  to  the  store  and  inquired  if  there  was 
any  house  in  the  neighborhood  where  he  could  get 
lodging  for  the  night. 

The  storekeeper,  who  came  out  to  him,  was  a  very 
little  man  whose  appearance  recalled  to  Croft  the 
fact  that  he  had  noticed,  in  this  part  of  the  State,  a 
great  many  men  who  were  extremely  tall,  and  a 
great  many  who  were  extremely  small,  which  pecu 
liarity,  he  thought,  might  assist  a  physiologist  in 
discovering  the  different  effects  of  hot  bread  upon 
different  organizations.  He  was  quite  as  cordial, 
however,  as  the  biggest,  burliest,  and  jolliest  host 
who  ever  welcomed  a  guest  to  his  inn,  as  he  in 
formed  Mr  Croft  that  there  was  no  house  in  the  vil 
lage  which  made  a  business  of  entertaining  strangers, 
but  if  he  chose  to  stop  with  him  he  would  keep  him 
and  his  horse  for  the  night,  and  do  what  he  could  to 
make  him  comfortable. 

Lawrence  ate  supper  that  night  with  the  store 
keeper,  his  wife,  and  five  of  his  children ;  but  as  he 
was  very  hungry,  and  the  meal  was  a  plentiful  one, 
he  enjoyed  the  experience. 

"  I  suppose  you're  goin'  on  to  Westerville  in  the 
mornin'?"  said  the  little  host. 

"  No,"  replied  Croft,  "  I  am  not  going  any  farther 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  135 

than  this  place.  Do  you  know  if  a  gentleman  named 
Keswick  arrived  here  recently  ?  " 

"  Why,  yaas,"  said  the  man,  "  if  you  mean  Junius 
Keswick." 

"  Certainly  he  did,"  said  Mrs  Storekeeper.  "  He 
rode  through  here  yesterday,  and  he  stopped  at  the 
store  to  see  if  we  had  any  of  that  Lynchburg  tobacco 
he  used  to  smoke  when  he  lived  here.  He's  gone  on 
to  his  aunt's." 

"  Where  is  that  ?  "  asked  Croft. 

"  It's  about  two  miles  out  on  the  Westerville 
road,"  said  the  little  man.  "  If  I'd  knowed  you 
wanted  to  see  him,  I'd  'a  told  you  to  keep  right  on, 
and  you  could  'a  stopped  with  Mrs  Keswick  over 
night." 

Lawrence  wished  to  ask  some  questions  about 
Mrs  Null,  but  he  was  afraid  to  do  so  lest  he  might 
excite  suspicions  by  connecting  her  with  Keswick. 
If  the  latter  had  gone  two  miles  out  of  town,  per 
haps  she  had  not  yet  seen  him. 

The  room  in  which  Lawrence  slept  that  night  was 
to  him  a  very  odd  one.  It  was  a  long  apartment,  at 
one  end  of  which  was  a  clean,  comfortable  bed,  a 
couple  of  chairs,  and  a  table  on  which  was  a  basin 
and  pitcher.  At  the  other  end  were  piles  of  new- 
looking  boxes,  containing  groceries  of  various  kinds, 
rolls  of  cotton  cloth  and  other  dry  goods,  and,  what 
attracted  his  attention  more  than  anything  else,  a 
vast  number  of  bright  tin  cans,  bearing  on  their 
sides  brilliant  pictures  of  tomatoes,  peaches,  green 
corn,  and  other  preservable  eatables.  These  were 


136  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

evidently  the  reserved  stores  of  the  establishment, 
and  they  were  so  different  from  the  bedroom  decora 
tions  to  which  he  was  accustomed,  that  it  quite 
pleased  Lawrence  to  think  that  with  all  his  experi 
ence  in  life  he  was  now  lodged  in  a  manner  entirely 
novel  to  him.  As  he  lay  awake  looking  at  the 
moonlight  glittering  on  the  sides  of  the  multitude 
of  cans,  the  thought  came  into  his  mind  that  this 
had  probably  been  the  room  of  the  Nulls  when  they 
were  here. 

"As  this  is  the  only  house  in  the  place  where 
travellers  are  entertained,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  of 
course  they  must  have  come  to  it.  And  as  they  are 
not  here  now,  it  is  quite  plain  that  they  must  have 
gone  away.  I  am  very  glad  of  it,  especially  if  they 
left  before  Keswick  arrived,  for  their  departure  prob 
ably  prevented  an  awkward  situation.  But  I  shall 
ask  the  storekeeper  no  questions  about  these  people. 
There  is  no  better  way  of  giving  inquisitive  folk  the 
entree  to  your  affairs  than  by  asking  questions.  Of 
course  there  was  no  reason  why  they  should  stay 
here  after  they  had  successfully  traced  Keswick  to 
this  part  of  the  country  ;  and  every  reason,  if  they 
wanted  to  enjoy  themselves,  why  they  should  go 
away.  But  I  can't  help  being  sorry  that  I  did  not 
meet  the  young  woman,  and  have  an  opportunity  of 
paying  her  for  her  trouble,  and  giving  her  a  few 
words  of  advice  in  regard  to  her  action,  or,  rather, 
non-action  in  this  matter.  She  has  a  fine  head  for 
business,  but  I  should  like  to  feel  certain  that  she 
understands  that  her  business  with  me  is  over." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  137 

And  he  turned  his  eyes  from  the  glittering  cans,  and 
slept. 

The  next  morning,  Lawrence  Croft  rode  on  to 
Mrs  Keswick's  house,  and  when  he  reached  the 
second,  or  inner  gate,  he  saw,  on  the  other  side  of  it, 
an  elderly  female,  wearing  a  purple  sun-bonnet  and 
carrying  a  purple  umbrella.  There  was  something 
very  eccentric  about  the  garb  of  this  elderly  person 
age,  and  many  an  inexperienced  city  man  would 
have  taken  her  for  a  retired  nurse,  or  some  other 
domestic  retainer  of  the  family,  but  there  was  a 
steadfastness  in  her  gaze,  and  a  fire  in  her  eye, 
which  indicated  to  Lawrence  that  she  was  one  much 
more  accustomed  to  give  orders  than  to  take  them. 
He  raised  his  hat  very  politely,  and  asked  if  Mr 
Keswick  was  to  be  found  there. 

If  the  commander  of  the  army,  about  whom  Mr 
Croft  had  recently  been  reading,  had  beheld  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  the  battle  a  strong,  friendly  force 
advancing  to  his  aid,  he  would  not  have  been  more 
delighted  than  Lawrence  would  have  been  had  he 
known  what  a  powerful  ally  to  his  cause  stood  be 
neath  that  purple  sun-bonnet. 

"  Do  you  mean  Junius  Keswick?"  said  the  old 
lady. 

"  Yes,  madam,"  answered  Croft. 

"  He  is  here,  and  you  will  find  him  at  the  house." 

The  gate  was  partly  open,  and  Lawrence  rode  in. 
The  old  lady  stepped  aside  to  let  him  pass. 

"  Do  you  want  to  see  him  on  business  ?  "  she  said. 
14  How  did  you  know  he  was  here  ?  " 


138  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  I  inquired  at  Hewlett's,  madam." 

Mrs  Kesvvick  would  have  liked  to  ask  some  fur 
ther  questions,  but  there  was  something  about  Law 
rence's  appearance  that  dete/red  her. 

"  You  can  tie  your  horse  under  that  tree  over 
there,"  she  said,  pointing  to  a  spot  more  trampled 
by  hoofs  than  the  old  lady  wished  any  other  portion 
of  her  house-yard  to  be. 

When  Lawrence  had  tied  his  bridle  to  a  hook  sus 
pended  by  a  strap  from  one  of  the  lower  branches  of 
the  indicated  tree,  he  advanced  to  the  house ;  and  a 
very  much  astonished  man  was  he  to  see,  sitting  side 
by  side  on  the  porch,  Junius  Keswick  and  Mr 
Candy's  cashier.  They  were  seated  in  the  shade  of 
a  mass  of  honeysuckle  vines,  and  were  so  busily  en 
gaged  in  conversation  that  they  had  not  perceived 
his  approach.  Even  now  Lawrence  had  time  to 
look  at  them  for  a  few  moments  before  they  turned 
their  eyes  upon  him. 

Equally  astonished  were  the  two  people  on  the 
porch,  who  now  arose  to  their  feet.  Junius  Keswick 
naturally  wondered  very  much  why  Mr  Croft  should 
come  to  see  him  here  ;  and  as  for  the  young  lady, 
she  was  almost  as  much  terrified  as  surprised.  Had 
this  man  come  down  from  New  York  to  swoop  upon 
her  cousin  ?  Had  it  been  possible  that  she  could 
have  given  him  any  idea  of  the  whereabouts  of 
Junius  ?  In  her  last  note  to  him  she  had  been  very 
careful  to  promise  information,  but  not  to  give  any, 
hoping  thus  to  gain  time  to  get  an  insight  into  the 
matter,  and  to  keep  her  cousin  out  of  danger,  if,  in- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  139 

deed,  any  danger  threatened.  But  here  the  pursuer 
had  found  Junius  in  less  than  a  day  after  she  had  first 
met  him  herself.  But  when  she  saw  Junius  advance 
and  shake  hands  in  a  very  friendly  way  with  Mr 
Croft,  her  terror  began  to  decrease,  although  her 
surprise  continued  at  the  same  high-water  mark, 
and  Keswick  found  himself  in  a  flood  of  the  same 
emotion  when  Croft  very  politely  saluted  his  cousin 
by  name,  which  salutation  was  returned  in  a  manner 
which  indicated  that  the  parties  were  acquainted. 

At  first  Croft  had  been  prompted  to  ignore  all 
knowledge  of  the  cashier,  and  meet  her  as  a  stranger, 
but  his  better  sense  prevented  this,  for  how  could 
he  know  what  she  had  been  saying  about  him. 

"  I  was  about  to  introduce  you  to  my  cousin," 
said  Keswick,  "  but  I  see  that  you  already  know 
each  other." 

"  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Mrs  Null  in 
New  York,"  said  Lawrence,  to  whom  the  word 
cousin  gave  what  might  be  called  a  more  important 
surprise  than  anything  with  which  this  three-sided 
interview  had  yet  furnished  its  participants.  He 
gave  a  quick  glance  at  the  lady,  and  discovered  her 
very  steadfastly  gazing  at  him.  "  I  hope,"  he  said, 
"  that  you  and  your  husband  have  had  a  very  pleas 
ant  trip." 

"  Mr  Null  did  not  come  with  me,"  she  quietly  re 
plied. 

Lawrence  Croft  was  a  man  to  whom  it  gave  pleas 
ure  to  deal  with  problematic  situations,  unexpected 
developments,  and  the  like ;  but  this  was  too  much 


140  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

of  a  conundrum  for  him.  That  the  man,  whose  ad 
dress  he  had  employed  this  girl  to  find  out,  should 
prove  to  be  her  cousin,  and  that  she  should  start  on 
her  bridal  trip  without  her  husband,  were  points  on 
which  his  reason  had  no  power  to  work.  One  thing, 
however,  he  quickly  determined  upon.  He  would 
have  an  interview  with  Madam  Cashier,  and  have 
her  explain  these  mysteries.  She  was,  virtually,  his 
agent,  and  had  no  right  to  conceal  from  him  what 
she  had  been  doing,  and  why  she  had  done  it. 

It  was  necessary,  however,  that  he  should  waste 
no  time  in  thoughts  of  this  kind,  but  should  imme 
diately  state  to  Mr  Keswick  the  reason  of  his  visit ; 
for  it  could  not  be  supposed  he  had  called  in  a 
merely  social  way.  "  I  wish  to  speak  to  you,"  he 
said,  "on  a  little  matter  of  business." 

At  these  words  Mrs  Null  excused  herself,  and 
went  into  the  house.  Her  mind  was  troubled  as 
she  wondered  what  the  business  was  which  had 
made  this  New  York  gentleman  so  extraordinarily 
desirous  to  find  her  cousin.  Was  it  anything  that 
would  injure  Junius?  She  looked  back  as  she 
entered  the  door,  but  the  object  of  her  solicitude 
was  sitting  with  a  face  so  calm  and  composed  that  it 
showed  very  plainly  he  did  not  expect  any  commu 
nication  which  would  be  harmful  to  him. 

"  It  is  a  satisfaction,"  thought  Mr  Croft,  "  a  very- 
great  satisfaction  that  I  can  enter  upon  the  object 
of  my  visit  knowing  that  my  affairs  and  my  actions 
have  not  been  discussed  by  this  gentleman  and  Mrs 
Null." 


CHAPTER    XII. 

OLD  Mrs  Keswick  would  willingly  have  followed 
the  strange  gentleman  to  the  house  in  order  to 
know  the  object  of  his  visit,  but  as  he  had  come  to 
see  Junius  she  refrained,  for  she  knew  her  nephew 
would  not  like  any  appearance  of  curiosity  on  her 
part.  Her  reception  of  Junius  had  been  very  dif 
ferent  indeed  from  that  she  had  previously  accorded 
him  when  she  declined  to  be  found  under  the  same 
roof  with  him.  Now  he  was  here  under  very  differ 
ent  auspices,  and  for  him  the  very  plumpest  poultry 
was  slain,  and  everything  was  done  to  make  him 
comfortable  and  willing  to  stay  and  become  ac 
quainted  with  his  cousin,  Mrs  Null.  A.  match  be 
tween  these  two  young  people  was  the  present 
object  of  the  old  lady's  existence,  and  she  set  about 
making  it  with  as  much  determination  and  confi 
dence  as  if  there  had  been  no  such  person  as  Mr 
Null.  Of  this  individual  she  had  the  most  con 
temptible  opinion.  She  had  never  asked  many 
questions  about  him,  because,  in  her  intercourse 
with  her  niece,  she  wished,  as  far  as  possible,  to 
ignore  him.  Having  mentally  pictured  him  in  var 
ious  mean  conditions  of  life,  she  had  finally  settled 
it  in  her  mind  that  he  was  an  agent  for  some  patent 
fertilizer  ;  a  man  of  this  kind  being  a  very  obnoxious 


142  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

person  to  her.  This  avocation,  however,  constituted 
in  the  old  lady's  mind  no  excusable  reason  for  his 
protracted  absence  ;  and  if  ever  a  wife  was  deserted, 
she  believed  that  her  niece  Annie  was  such  a  wife. 

u  If  he  should  stay  away  much  longer,"  she  said  to 
herself,  "  we  shall  have  no  more  trouble  in  getting 
a  divorce  than  to  have  his  funeral  sermon  preached. 
And  if  there  is  any  talk  of  his  coming  here,  or  of 
her  going  to  him,  I'll  put  my  foot  down  on  that 
sort  of  thing,  if  I've  a  foot  left  to  do  it  with." 

When  she  had  first  perceived  the  approach  of  Mr 
Croft,  a  fear  had  seized  her  that  this  might  be  the 
recreant  husband,  but  the  gentlemanly  appearance 
of  the  stranger  soon  dispelled  this  idea  from  her 
prejudiced  mind.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  she  had 
no  business  at  the  house  with  her  nephew's  visitor, 
she  had  positive  business  in  the  garden  with  old 
Uncle  Isham,  and  there  she  repaired.  There  was 
some  work  to  be  done  in  regard  to  a  flower  pit,  in 
which  some  of  her  choicest  plants  were  to  be  domi 
ciled  during  the  winter,  and  this  she  wished  person 
ally  to  oversee.  Although  the  autumn  was  well 
advanced,  the  day  was  somewhat  warm  ;  and  as  the 
pair,  whom  Mr  Croft  had  seen  on  the  porch,  had 
been  glad  to  shelter  themselves  in  the  shade  of  the 
honeysuckle  vines,  so  Mrs  Keswick  seated  herself  on 
a  little  bench  behind  a  large  arbor,  still  covered  by 
heavy  vines,  which  stood  on  the  boundary  line  be 
tween  the  garden  and  the  front  yard,  and  opened 
on  the  latter.  This  bench,  which  was  always  shady 
in  the  morning,  she  had  had  placed  there  that  she 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  143 

might  comfortably  direct  the  labors  of  old  Isham, 
the  boy  Plez,  or  whoever,  for  the  time  being,  hap 
pened  to  be  her  gardener. 

Mr  Croft  did  not  immediately  begin  the  state 
ment  of  the  business  which  had  brought  him  to  see 
Junius  Keswick.  Several  windows  of  the  house 
opened  on  the  porch,  and  he  did  not  wish  what  he 
had  to  say  to  be  heard  by  any  one  except  the  person 
he  was  addressing.  "  I  desire  to  talk  to  you  on  some 
private  matters,"  he  said.  "  Could  we  not  walk  a 
little  away  from  the  house  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  Junius,  rising.  "We  will  step 
over  to  that  arbor  by  the  garden.  We  shall  be  quite 
comfortable  and  secluded  there.  This  is  the  place," 
said  Junius,  as  they  seated  themselves  in  the  arbor, 
"where, when  a  boy,  I  used  to  come  to  smoke.  My 
aunt  did  not  allow  this  diversion,  but  I  managed  to 
do  a  good  deal  of  puffing  before  I  was  found  out." 

"  Then  you  used  to  live  here  ?  "  asked  Croft. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Keswick,  "  my  parents  died  when 
I  was  quite  a  little  fellow,  and  my  aunt  had  charge 
of  me  until  I  had  grown  up." 

u  Was  that  your  aunt  whom  I  met  at  the  gate  ? 
There  was  something  about  her  bearing  and  general 
appearance  which  greatly  interested  me." 

"  She  is  a  most  estimable  lady,"  returned  Junius. 
And  not  wishing  further  to  discuss  his  relative,  he 
added  :  "  And  now,  what  is  it,  sir,  that  I  can  have 
the  pleasure  of  doing  for  you?" 

"  The  matter  regards  Miss  March,"  said  Croft. 

"  I  presumed  so,"  remarked  the  other. 


144  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  I  will  state  it  as  briefly  as  possible,"  continued 
Croft.  "  In  consequence  of  your  visit  to  me  at  the 
the  Springs,  I  set  out,  the  day  before  yesterday,  to 
make  another  attempt  to  call  on  Miss  March,  the 
first  one  having  been  frustrated,  as  you  may  remem 
ber,  by  the  information  we  received  at  the  gate  in 
regard  to  Miss  March's  indisposition,  which,  as  I 
have  heard  nothing  more  of  it,  I  hope  was  of  no 
importance." 

"  Of  none  whatever,"  said  Junius. 

"When  I  was  within  a  mile  or  so  of  Midbranch," 
continued  Croft,  "I  met  Mr  Brandon, who  requested 
me  not  to  come  to  his  house,  and,  in  fact,  to  cease 
my  visits  altogether." 

"  What  ! "  cried  Keswick,  very  much  surprised. 
"  That  is  not  at  all  like  Mr  Brandon.  What  reason 
could  he  have  for  treating  you  in  such  a  manner?" 

"  The  very  best  in  the  world,"  said  Croft.  "  Hav 
ing,  as  the  guardian  of  his  niece,  asked  me  the  object 
of  my  visit  to  Miss  March,  and,  having  been  in 
formed  by  me  that  it  was  my  intention  to  propose 
matrimony  to  the  lady,  he  requested  that  I  would 
not  visit  at  his  house." 

"  On  what  ground  did  he  base  his  objection  to 
your  visit  ?  "  asked  Keswick. 

"  He  made  no  objection  to  me  ;  he  simply  stated 
that  he  did  not  desire  me  to  come,  because  he 
wished  his  niece  to  marry  you." 

"  Quite  plainly  spoken,"  remarked  Keswick. 

"  Nothing  could  be  more  so,"  replied  Croft.  "  I 
could  not  expect  any  one  to  be  franker  with  me 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  145 

than  he  was.  He  went  on  to  inform  me  that  a 
match  between  the  lady  and  yourself  was  greatly  de 
sired  by  the  whole  family  connection,  with  a  single 
exception,  which,  however,  he  did  not  name,  and, 
while  he  gave  me  to  understand  that  he  had  no  rea 
son  to  fear  that,  so  far  as  the  lady  was  concerned, 
my  proposal  would  interfere  with  your  prospects, 
still,  were  it  known  that  there  was  another  aspirant 
in  the  field,  a  very  undesirable  state  of  things  might 
ensue.  What  this  state  of  affairs  was  he  did  not 
state,  but  I  presume  it  had  something  to  do  with  the 
exceptional  opposition  to  which  he  referred." 

"  And  what  did  you  say  to  all  that  ? "  asked 
Junius. 

"  I  said  very  little.  When  a  man  asks  me  not  to 
come  to  his  house,  I  don't  go.  But,  nevertheless,  I 
have  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  propose  to  Miss 
March  as  soon  as  I  can  get  an  opportunity.  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  family  arrangements  or  family 
opposition.  You  have  told  me  that  you  are  not  en 
gaged  to  her,  and  I  am  going  to  try  to  be  engaged 
to  her.  She  is  the  one  to  decide  this  matter.  And 
now  I  have  called  upon  you,  Mr  Keswick,  to  see  if 
there  is  any  way  in  which  you  can  assist  me  in  ob 
taining  an  interview  with  Miss  March." 

"Don't  you  think,"  said  Junius,  "  that  it  is  rather 
cool  in  you  to  ask  me  to  assist  you  in  this  matter?" 

"Not  at  all,"  replied  the  other.  "If  it  had  not 
been  for  you  I  should  now  be  in  New  York,  with  no 
thought  of  present  proposals  of  marriage.  But  you 
came  to  me,  and  insisted  that  I  should  see  the  lady." 

10 


146  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  That  was  simply  because  she  had  expressed  a 
strong  desire  to  see  you." 

"  Very  good,"  said  Lawrence.  "  I  tried  to  go  to 
her,  as  you  know,  and  was  prevented.  Now  all  I 
ask  of  you  is  to  help  me  to  do  what  you  so  strongly 
urged  me  to  do.  There  is  nothing  particularly  cool 
in  that,  I  think." 

Keswick  did  not  immediately  reply.  "  I  am  not 
sure,"  he  said,  "  that  Miss  March  still  wishes  to  see 
you." 

"  That  may  be,"  replied  Croft,  speaking  a  little 
warmly.  "  None  of  us  exactly  know  what  she  thinks 
or  wishes.  But  I  want  to  find  out  what  she  thinks 
about  me  by  distinctly  asking  her.  And  I  should 
suppose  you  would  consider  it  to  your  advantage,  as 
well  as  mine,  that  I  should  do  so." 

"  I  have  my  own  opinion  on  that  point,"  said  Kes 
wick,  "which  it  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  at  present. 
If  I  were  to  assist  you  to  an  interview  with  Miss 
March  it  would  be  on  the  lady's  account,  not  on 
yours  or  mine.  But  apart  from  the  fact  that  I  do 
not  know  if  she  now  desires  an  interview,  I  would 
not  do  anything  that  would  offend  or  annoy  Mr 
Brand&n." 

"  I  don't  ask  that  of  you,"  said  Croft,  "  but 
couldn't  you  use  your  influence  with  him  to  give  me 
a  fair  chance  with  the  lady  ?  That  is  all  I  ask,  and, 
whether  she  accepts  me  or  rejects  me,  I  am  sure 
everybody  ought  to  be  satisfied." 

Keswick  smiled.  "  You  don't  leave  any  margin 
for  sentiment,"  he  said,  "  but  I  suppose  it  is  just  as 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  147 

well  to  deal  with  this  matter  in  a  practical  way.  I 
do  not  think,  however,  that  any  influence  I  can 
exert  on  Mr  Brandon  would  induce  him  to  allow 
you  to  address  his  niece  if  he  is  opposed  to  it,  and  I 
am  sure  he  would  have  a  very  strange  opinion  of  me 
if  I  attempted  such  a  thing.  At  present  I  do  not 
see  that  I  can  help  you  at  all,  but  I  will  think  over 
the  matter,  and  we  will  talk  of  it  again." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Croft,  rising.  "And  when 
shall  I  call  upon  you  to  hear  your  decision  ?  " 

It  was  rather  difficult  for  Junius  Keswick  to  an 
swer  a  question  like  this  on  the  spur  of  the  moment. 
He  arose  and  walked  with  Croft  out  of  the  arbor. 
His  first  impulse,  as  a  Virginia  gentleman,  was  to 
invite  his  visitor  to  stay  at  the  house  until  the  mat 
ter  should  be  settled,  but  he  did  not  know  what 
extraordinary  freak  on  the  part  of  his  aunt  might  be 
caused  by  such  an  invitation.  But  before  he  had 
decided  what  to  say,  they  were  met  by  Mrs  Keswick 
coming  from  the  garden.  Junius  thereupon  pre 
sented  Mr  Croft,  who  was  welcomed  by  the  old  lady 
with  extended  hand  and  exceeding  cordiality. 

"  I  am  very  glad,"  she  said,  "  to  meet  a  friend  of 
my  nephew.  But  where  are  you  going,  Sir?  Cer 
tainly  not  toward  your  horse.  You  must  stay  and 
dine  with  us." 

Lawrence  hesitated.  He  had  no  claims  on  the 
hospitality  of  these  people,  but  he  wished  very 
much  to  have  an  opportunity  to  speak  to  Mrs  Null. 
"  Thank  you,"  he  said,  "  but  I  am  staying  down 
here  at  the  village,  and  it  is  but  a  short  ride." 


148  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  Staying  at  Hewlett's?"  exclaimed  Mrs  Kes- 
wick.  "  At  which  hotel,  may  I  ask?" 

Lawrence  laughed.  "  I  am  stopping  with  the 
storekeeper,"  he  said. 

"  That  settles  it ! "  said  the  old  lady,  giving  her 
umbrella  a  jab  into  the  ground.  "  Tom  Peckett's 
accommodations  may  be  good  enough  for  pedlers 
and  travelling  agents,  but  they  are  not  fit  for  gen 
tlemen,  especially  one  of  my  nephew's  friends.  You 
must  stay  with  us,  sir,  as  long  as  you  are  in  this 
neighborhood.  I  insist  upon  it." 

Junius  was  very  much  astonished  at  his  aunt's 
speech  and  manner.  The  old  lady  was  not  at  all  in 
hospitable  ;  so  far  was  it  otherwise  the  case,  that, 
rather  than  deprive  an  objectionable  visitor  of  the 
shelter  of  her  roof,  she  would  go  from  under  it  her 
self  ;  but  he  had  never  known  her  to  "  gush  "  in  this 
manner  upon  a  stranger.  He  now  felt  at  liberty, 
however,  to  obey  his  own  impulses,  and  urged  Mr 
Croft  to  stay  with  them. 

"  You  are  very  kind,  indeed,"  said  Lawrence,  "  and 
I  shall  be  glad  to  defer  for  the  present  my  return  to 
my  *  hotel.'  This  will  give  me  the  additional  pleas 
ure  of  renewing  my  acquaintance  with  Mrs  Null." 

"  What !  "  exclaimed  Mrs  Keswick,  "  do  you  know 
her,  too  ?  And  to  think  of  you  stopping  at  Peckett's  ! 
Your  home,  sir,  while  you  stay  in  these  parts,  is  here." 

Before  the  three  reached  the  house,  Mrs  Keswick 
had  inquired  how  long  Mr  Croft  had  known  her 
niece ;  and  had  discovered,  much  to  her  disappoint 
ment,  that  he  had  never  met  Mr  Null. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  149 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  at  the  house  of  the  gen 
tleman  on  horseback  little  Plez  ran  into  the  kitchen, 
where  Letty  was  engaged  in  preparing  vegetables 
for  dinner. 

"  Who  d'ye  think  is  done  come  ?  "  he  exclaimed. 
"  Miss  Annie's  husband  !  Jes'  rid  up  to  de  house." 

"  Dat  so  ?"  cried  Letty,  dropping  into  her  lap  the 
knife  and  the  potato  she  was  peeling.  "  Well,  truly, 
when  things  does  happen  in  dis  woiT  dey  comes  all 
in  a  lump.  None  ob  de  fam'ly  been  nigh  de  house 
for  ebber  so  long;  an'  den,  'long  comes  Mahs'  Jun- 
ius  hisse'f,  an'  Miss  Annie  dat's  been  away  sence  she 
was  a  chile,  an'  ole  Mr  Brandon,  wot  Uncle  Isham 
say  ain't  been  h'yar  fur  years  and  years,  an'  now 
Miss  Annie's  husband  comes  kitin'  up !  An'  dar's 
ole  Aun'  Patsy  wot  says  dat  if  dat  gemman  ebber 
come  h'yar  she  want  to  know  it  fus'  thing.  She 
was  dreffle  p'inted  about  dat.  An'  now,  look 
h'yar,  you  Plez,  jus'  you  cut  round  to  your  Aun' 
Patsy's,  an'  tell  her  Miss  Annie's  husband's  done 
come." 

"  Whar  ole  Miss  ?  "  inquired  Plez.    "  She  'sleep  ?  " 

"  No,  she  mighty  wide  awake,"  said  Letty.  "  But 
you  take  dem  knives  an'  dat  board  an'  brick,  an'  run 
down  to  de  branch  to  clean  'em.  An',  when  you  gits 
dar,  you  jus'  slip  along,  'hind  de  bushes,  till  you's  got 
ter  de  cohn  fiel',  an'  den  you  cut  'cross  dar  to  Aun' 
Patsy's.  An'  don'  you  stop  no  time  dar,  fur  if  ole 
Miss  finds  you's  done  gone,  she'll  chop  you  up  wid 
dem  knives." 

Plez  was  quite  ready  for  a  reckless  dash  of  this 


150  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

kind,  and  in  less  than  twenty  minutes  old  Patsy 
was  informed  that  Mr  Null  had  arrived.  The  old 
woman  was  much  affected  by  the  information.  She 
was  uneasy  and  restless,  and  talked  a  good  deal  to 
herself,  occasionally  throwing  out  a  moan  or  a  la 
ment  in  the  direction  of  her  "  son  Tom's  yaller  boy 
Bob's  chile."  The  crazy  quilt,  which  was  not  yet 
finished,  though  several  pieces  had  been  added  since 
we  last  saw  it,  was  laid  aside ;  and  by  the  help  of 
the  above  mentioned  great  granddaughter  the  old 
hair  trunk  was  hauled  out  and  opened.  Over  this 
hoard  of  treasures,  Aunt  Patsy  spent  nearly  two 
hours,  slowly  taking  up  the  various  articles  it  con 
tained,  turning  them  over,  mumbling  over  them, 
and  mentally  referring  many  of  them  to  periods 
which  had  become  historic.  At  length  she  pulled 
out  from  one  of  the  corners  of  the  trunk  a  pair  of 
very  little  blue  morocco  shoes  tied  together  by 
their  strings.  These  she  took  into  her  lap,  and, 
shortly  afterward,  had  the  trunk  locked,  and  pushed 
back  into  its  place.  The  shoes,  having  been  thor 
oughly  examined  through  her  great  iron-bound 
spectacles,  were  thrust  under  the  mattrass  of  her 
bed. 

That  evening,  Uncle  Isham  stepped  in  to  see  the 
old  woman,  who  was  counteracting  the  effects  of 
the  cool  evening  air  by  sitting  as  close  as  possible 
to  the  remains  of  the  fire  which  had  cooked  the 
supper.  She  was  very  glad  to  see  him.  She 
wanted  somebody  to  whom  she  could  unburden  her 
mind. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  151 

"  Wot  you  got  to  say  'bout  Miss  Annie's  hus 
band,"  she  asked,  "  wot  done  come  to-day?" 

"  Was  dat  him?  "  exclaimed  the  old  man.  "  No 
body  tole  me  dat." 

This  was  true,  for  the  good-natured  Letty,  hav 
ing  discovered  the  mistake  that  had  been  made, 
had  concluded  to  say  nothing  about  it  and  to  keep 
away  from  Aunt  Patsy's  for  a  few  days,  until  the 
matter  should  be  forgotten. 

"  Well,  I  spec  Miss  Annie's  mighty  glad  to  git 
him  back  agin,"  continued  the  old  man,  after  a 
moment's  reflection.  "  He's  right  much  of  a  nice 
lookin'  gemman.  I  seed  him  this  ebenin'  a  ridin' 
wid  Mahs'  Junius." 

"  P'raps  Miss  Annie  is  glad,"  said  the  ole  woman, 
"  coz  she  don'  know.  But  I  ain't." 

"Wot's  de  reason  fur  dat?"  inquired  Isham. 

"  It's  a  pow'ful  dreffle  thing  dat  Miss  Annie's 
husband's  done  come  down  h'yar.  He  don'  know 
ole  miss." 

"  Wot's  de  matter  wid  ole  miss  ?  "  asked  Isham, 
in  a  quick  tone. 

"  She  done  talk  to  me  'bout  him,"  said  the  old 
woman.  "  She  done  tole  me  jus'  wot  she  think  of 
him.  She  hate  him  from  he  heel  up.  I  dunno  wot 
she'll  do  to  him  now  she  got  him.  Mighty  great 
pity  fur  pore  Miss  Annie  dat  he  ever  come  h'yar." 

"  Ole  miss  ain't  gwine  ter  do  nuffin'  to  him,"  said 
Isham,  in  a  gruff  and  troubled  tone. 

"  Don'  you  b'lieve  dat,"  said  Aunt  Patsy.  "When 
ole  miss  don'  like  a  pusson,  dat  pusson  had  better 


152  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

look  out.  But  I  ain't  gwine  to  be  sottin'  h'yar  an' 
see  mis'ry  comin'  to  Miss  Annie." 

"  Wot  you  gwine  to  do  ?"  asked  Isham. 

"  I's  gwine  ter  speak  my  min' to  ole  miss.  I's 
gwine  to  tell  her  not  to  do  no  kunjerin'  to  Miss 
Annie's  husban'.  She  gwine  to  hurt  dat  little  gal 
more'n  she  hurt  anybody  else." 

Old  Isham  sat  looking  into  the  fire  with  a  very 
worried  and  anxious  expression  on  his  face.  He 
was  intensely  loyal  to  his  mistress,  aware  as  he  was 
of  her  short-comings,  or  rather  her  long-goings. 
Although  he  felt  a  good  deal  of  fear  that  there 
might  be  some  truth  in  Aunt  Patsy's  words,  he 
was  very  sure  that  if  she  took  it  upon  herself  to 
give  warning  or  reproof  to  old  Mrs  Keswick,  a  storm 
would  ensue ;  and  where  the  lightning  would  strike 
he  did  not  know.  "You  better  look  out,  Aun' 
Patsy,"  he  said.  "You  an'  ole  miss  been  mighty 
good  fren's  fur  a  pow'ful  long  time,  an'  now  don' 
you  go  gittin'  yourse'f  in  no  fraction  wid  her,  jus'  as 
you'  bout  to  die." 

"Ain't  gwine  to  die,"  said  the  old  woman,  "  till  I 
done  tole  her  wot's  on  my  min'." 

"  Aun'  Patsy,"  said  Uncle  Isham,  after  gazing 
silently  in  the  fire  for  a  minute  or  two,  "  dar  was  a 
brudder  wot  come  up  from  'Melia  County  to  de  las' 
big  preachin',  an'  he  tole  in  his  sarment  a  par'ble  wot 
I  b'lieve  will  'ply  fus  rate  to  dis  'casion.  I's  gwine 
to  tell  you  dat." 

"  Go  'long  wid  it,"  said  Aunt  Patsy. 

"Well,  den,"  said  Isham,  "  dar  was  once  a  cullud 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  153 

angel  wot  went  up  to  de  gate  ob  heaben  to  git  in. 
He  didn't  know  nuffin'  'bout  de  ways  ob  de  place, 
bein'  a  strahnger,  an'  when  he  see  all  de  white 
angels  a  crowdin'  in  at  de  gate  where  Sent  Peter 
was  a  settin',  he  sorter  looked  round  to  see  if  dar 
warn't  no  gate  wot  he  might  go  in  at.  Den  ole 
Sent  Peter  he  sings  out :  '  Look  h'yar,  uncle,  whar 
you  gwine?  Dar  ain't  no  cullud  gal'ry  in  dis  'stab- 
lishment.  You's  got  to  come  in  dis  same  gate  wid 
de  udder  folks.'  So  de  cullud  angel  he  come  up  to 
de  gate,  but  he  kin'  a  hung  back  till  de  udders  had 
got  in.  Jus'  den  'long  comes  a  white  angel  on  hoss- 
back,  wot  was  in  a  dreffle  hurry  to  git  in  to  de  gate. 
De  cullud  angel,  he  mighty  p'lite,  an'  he  went  up  an' 
tuk  de  hoss,  an'  when  de  white  angel  had  got  down 
an'  gone  in,  he  went  roun'  lookin'  fur  a  tree  to  hitch 
him  to.  But  when  he  went  back  agin  to  de  gate, 
Sent  Peter  had  jus'  shet  it,  and  was  lockin'  it  up 
wid  a  big  padlock.  He  jus'  looks  ober  de  gate 
at  de  cullud  angel  an'  he  says :  '  No  'mittance 
ahfter  six  o'clock.'  An'  den  he  go  in  to  his  sup 
per." 

"  An'  wot  dat  cullud  angel  do  den  ?  "  asked  Eliza, 
who  had  been  listening  breathlessly  to  this  narra 
tive. 

"  Dunno,"  said  Isham,  "  but  I  reckin  de  debbil 
come  'long  in  de  night  an'  tuk  him  off.  Dar's  a 
lesson  in  dis  h'yar  par'ble  wot  'ud  do  you  good  to 
clap  to  your  heart,  Aun'  Patsy.  Don'  you  be  gwine 
roun'  tryin'  to  help  udder  people  jus'  as  you  is  all 
ready  to  go  inter  de  gate  ob  heaben.  Ef  you  try 


154  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

any  ob  dat  dar  foolishness,  de  fus'  thing  you  know 
you'll  find  dat  gate  shet." 

"  Is  dat  your  'Melia  County  par'ble  ?  "  asked  the 
old  woman. 

"  Dat's  it,"  answered  Isham. 

"  Reckon  dat  country's  better  fur  'bacca  dan  fur 
par'bles,"  grunted  Aunt  Patsy. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

LAWRENCE  CROFT  had  no  idea  of  leaving  the 
neighborhood  of  Hewlett's  until  Keswick  had  made 
up  his  mind  what  he  was  going  to  do,  and  until  he 
had  had  a  private  talk  with  Mrs  Null ;  and,  as  it  was 
quite  evident  that  the  family  would  be  offended  if  a 
visitor  to  them  should  lodge  at  Peckett's  store,  he 
accepted  the  invitation  to  spend  the  night  at  the 
Keswick  house  ;  and  in  the  afternoon  Junius  rode 
with  him  to  Hewlett's,  where  he  got  his  valise,  and 
paid  his  account. 

But  no  opportunity  occurred  that  day  for  a  ttte- 
a-tete  with  Mrs  Null.  Keswick  was  with  him  nearly 
all  the  afternoon ;  and  in  the  evening  the  family  sat 
together  in  the  parlor,  where  the  conversation  was 
a  general  one,  occasionally  very  much  brightened 
by  some  of  the  caustic  remarks  of  the  old  lady  in  re 
gard  to  particular  men  and  women,  as  well  as  society 
at  large.  Of  course  he  had  many  opportunities  of 
judging,  to  the  best  of  his  capacity,  of  certain 
phases  of  character  appertaining  to  Mr  Candy's  cash 
ier  ;  and,  among  other  things,  he  came  to  the  con 
clusion  that  probably  she  was  a  young  woman  who 
would  get  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  he,  there 
fore,  determined  to  do  that  thing  himself,  and  see 


156  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

if  he  could  not  have  a  talk  with  her  before  the  rest 
of  the  family  were  astir. 

Early  rising  was  not  one  of  Croft's  accustomed 
habits,  but  the  next  morning  he  arose  a  good  hour 
before  breakfast  time.  He  found  the  lower  part  of 
the  house  quite  deserted,  and  when  he  went  out  on 
the  porch  he  was  glad  to  button  up  his  coat,  for  the 
morning  air  was  very  cool.  While  walking  up  and 
down  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  and  looking  in 
at  the  front  door  every  time  he  passed  it,  in  hopes 
that  he  might  see  Mrs  Null  coming  down  the  stairs, 
he  was  greeted  with  a  cheery  ''good  morning,"  by 
a  voice  in  the  front  yard.  Turning  hastily,  he  be 
held  Mrs  Keswick,  wearing  her  purple  sunbonnet, 
but  without  her  umbrella. 

"  Glad  you  like  to  be  up  betimes,  sir,"  said  she. 
"That's  my  way,  and  I  find  it  pays.  Nobody  works 
as  well,  and  I  don't  believe  the  plants  and  stock 
grow  as  well,  while  we  are  asleep." 

Lawrence  replied  that  in  the  city  he  did  not  get 
up  so  early,  but  that  the  morning  air  in  the  country 
was  very  fine. 

"  And  pretty  sharp,  too,"  said  Mrs  Keswick. 
"  Come  down  here  in  the  sunshine,  and  you  will  find 
it  pleasanter.  Step  back  a  little  this  way,  sir,"  she 
said,  when  Lawrence  had  joined  her,  "  and  give  me 
your  opinion  of  that  locust  tree  by  the  corner  of 
,the  porch.  I  am  thinking  of  having  it  cut  down. 
'Locusts  are  very  apt  to  get  diseased  inside,  and 
break  off,  and  I  am  afraid  that  one  will  blow  over 
some  day  and  fall  on  the  house." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  157 

Lawrence  said  he  thought  it  looked  like  a  very 
good  tree,  and  it  would  be  a  pity  to  lose  the  shade 
it  made. 

*'  I  might  plant  one  of  another  sort,"  said  the  old 
lady,  u  but  trees  grow  too  slow  for  old  people, 
though  plenty  fast  enough  for  young  ones.  I 
reckon  I'll  let  it  stand  awhile  yet.  You  were  talk 
ing  last  night  of  Midbranch,  sir.  There  used  to  be 
fine  trees  there,  though  it's  many  years  since  I've 
seen  them.  Have  you  been  long  acquainted  with 
the  family  there  ?  " 

Lawrence  replied  that  he  had  known  Miss  March 
a  good  while,  having  met  her  in  New  York. 

"  She  is  said  to  be  a  right  smart  young  lady,"  said 
Mrs  Keswick,  "  well  educated,  and  has  travelled  in 
Europe.  I  am  told  that  she  is  not  only  a  regular 
town  lady,  but  that  she  makes  a  first-rate  house 
keeper  when  she  is  down  here  in  the  country." 

Lawrence  replied  that  he  had  no  doubt  that  all 
this  was  very  true. 

"  I  have  never  seen  her,"  continued  the  old  lady, 
"  for  there  has  not  been  much  communication  be 
tween  the  two  families  of  late  years,  although  they 
used  to  be  intimate  enough.  But  my  nephew  and 
niece  have  been  away  a  great  deal,  and  old  people 
can't  be  expected  to  do  much  in  the  way  of  visiting. 
But  I  have  a  notion,"  she  said,  after  gazing  a  few 
moments  in  a  reflective  way  at  the  corner  of  the 
house,  "  that  it  would  be  well  now  to  be  a  little 
more  sociable  again.  My  niece  has  no  company 
here  of  her  own  sex,  except  me,  and  I  think  it 


158  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

would  do  her  good  to  know  a  young  lady  like  Miss 
March.  Mr  Brandon  has  asked  me  to  let  Annie 
come  there,  but  I  think  it  would  be  a  great  deal 
better  for  his  niece  to  visit  us.  Mrs  Null  is  the 
latest  comer." 

Lawrence,  speaking  much  more  earnestly  than 
when  discussing  the  locust  tree,  replied  that  he 
thought  this  would  be  quite  proper. 

"  I  think  I  may  invite  her  to  come  here  next 
week,"  said  Mrs  Keswick,  still  meditatively  and  with 
out  apparent  regard  to  the  presence  of  Croft,  "prob 
ably  on  Friday,  and  ask  her  to  spend  a  week.  And, 
by  the  way,  sir,"  she  said,  turning  to  her  companion, 
"  if  you  are  still  in  this  part  of  the  country  I  would 
be  glad  to  have  you  ride  over  and  stay  a  day  or  two 
while  Miss  March  is  here.  I  will  have  a  little  party 
of  young  folks  in  honor  of  Mrs  Null.  I  have  done 
nothing  of  the  kind  for  her,  so  far." 

Lawrence  said  he  had  no  doubt  that  he  would 
stay  at  the  Green  Sulphur  a  week  or  two  longer, 
and  that  he  would  be  most  happy  to  accept  Mrs 
Keswick's  kind  invitation. 

They  then  moved  toward  the  house,  but,  sud 
denly  stopping,  as  if  she  had  just  thought  of  some 
thing,  Mrs  Keswick  remarked  :  "  I  shall  be  obliged 
to  you,  sir,  if  you  will  not  say  anything  about  this 
little  plan  of  mine,  just  now.  I  have  not  spoken  of 
it  to  any  one,  having  scarcely  made  up  my  mind  to 
it,  and  I  suppose  I  should  not  have  mentioned  it  to 
you  if  we  had  not  been  talking  about  Midbranch. 
There  is  nothing  I  hate  so  much  as  to  have  people 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  159 

hear  I  am  going  to  give  them  an  invitation,  or  that 
I  am  going  to  do  anything,  in  fact,  before  I  have 
fully  made  up  my  mind  about  it." 

Lawrence  assured  her  that  he  would  say  nothing 
on  the  subject,  and  she  promised  to  send  him  a  note 
to  the  Green  Sulphur,  in  case  she  finally  determined 
on  having  the  little  company  at  her  house. 

"Now,"  triumphantly  thought  Croft,  "it  matters 
not  what  Keswick  decides  to  do,  for  I  don't  need  his 
assistance.  An  elderly  angel  in  a  purple  sun-bonnet 
has  come  to  my  aid.  She  is  about  to  do  ever  so 
much  more  for  me  than  I  could  expect  of  him,  and 
I  prefer  her  assistance  to  that  of  my  rival.  Alto 
gether  it  is  the  most  unexpected  piece  of  good 
luck." 

After  breakfast  there  came  to  Lawrence  the  op 
portunity  of  a  private  conference  with  Mrs  Null. 
He  was  standing  alone  on  the  porch  when  she  came 
out  of  the  door  with  her  hat  on  and  a  basket  in  her 
hand,  and  said  she  was  going  to  see  a  very  old  col 
ored  woman  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood,  who 
was  considered  a  very  interesting  personage ;  and 
perhaps  he  would  like  to  go  there  with  her.  Noth 
ing  could  suit  Croft  better  than  this,  and  off  they 
started. 

As  soon  as  they  were  outside  the  yard  gate  the 
lady  remarked  :  "  I  have  been  trying  hard  to  give  you 
a  chance  to  talk  to  me  when  the  others  were  not  by. 
I  knew  you  must  be  perfectly  wild  to  ask  me  what 
this  all  meant ;  why  I  never  told  you  that  Mr  Kes 
wick  was  my  cousin,  and  the  rest  of  it." 


160  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  I  can't  say,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that  I  am  abso 
lutely  untamed  and  ferocious  in  regard  to  the  matter, 
but  I  do  really  wish  very  much  that  you  would  give 
me  some  explanation  of  your  very  odd  doings.  In 
fact,  that  is  the  only  thing  that  now  keeps  me  here." 

"  I  thought  so,"  said  Mrs  Null.  u  As  I  supposed 
you  had  got  through  with  your  business  with  Junius, 
I  did  not  wish  to  detain  you  here  any  longer  than 
was  necessary." 

44  Thank  you,"  said  Lawrence. 

"You  are  welcome,"  she  said.  "And  when  I  saw 
you  standing  on  the  porch  by  yourself,  the  idea  of 
being  generous  to  old  Aunt  Patsy  came  into  my 
mind.  And  here  we  are.  Now,  what  do  you  want 
to  know  first  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Mr  Croft,  "  I  would  like  very  much 
to  know  how  a  young  lady  like  you  came  to  be  Mr 
Candy's  cashier." 

"  I  supposed  you  would  want  to  know  that,"  she 
said.  "  It's  a  dreadfully  long  story,  and  as  it  is  a 
strictly  family  matter  I  had  almost  made  up  my 
mind  last  night  that  I  ought  not  to  tell  it  to  you  at 
all,  but  as  I  don't  know  how  much  you  are  mixed 
up  with  the  family,  I  afterward  thought  it  best,  for 
my  own  sake,  to  explain  the  matter  to  you.  So  I 
will  give  you  the  principal  points.  My  mother  was 
a  sister  of  Mrs  Keswick,  and  Junius'  mother  was  an 
other  sister.  Both  his  parents  died  when  he  was  a 
boy,  and  Aunt  Keswick  brought  him  up.  My 
mother  died  here  when  I  was  quite  small,  and  I 
stayed  until  I  was  eight  years  old.  Aunt  Keswick 


The  Late  Mrs  Nidi.  161 

and  my  father  were  not  very  good  friends,  and  when 
she  came  to  look  upon  me  as  entirely  her  own  child, 
and  wished  to  deprive  him  of  all  rights  and  privileges 
as  a  parent,  he  resented  it  very  much,  and,  at  last, 
took  me  away.  I  don't  remember  exactly  how  this 
was  done,  but  I  know  there  was  a  tremendous  quar 
rel,  and  my  father  and  aunt  never  met  again. 

"He  took  me  to  New  York;  and  there  we  lived 
very  happily  until  about  two  years  ago,  when  my 
father  died.  He  was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  but 
at  that  time  held  a  salaried  position  in  a  railroad 
company,  and  when  he  died,  of  course  our  income 
ceased.  The  money  that  was  left  did  not  last  very 
long,  and  then  I  had  to  decide  what  I  was  to  do. 
It  would  have  been  natural  for  me  to  go  to  my  only 
relatives,  Aunt  Keswick  and  Junius.  But  my  father 
had  been  so  opposed  to  my  aunt  having  anything  to 
do  with  me  that  I  could  not  bear  to  go  to  her.  He 
had  really  been  so  much  afraid  that  she  would  try 
to  win  me  away  from  him,  or  in  some  way  gain  pos 
session  of  me,  that  he  would  not  even  let  her  know 
our  address,  and  never  answered  the  few  letters 
from  her  which  reached  him,  and  which  he  told 
me  were  nothing  but  demands  that  her  sister's  child 
should  be  given  back  to  her.  Junius  had  written  to 
me,  how  many  times  I  do  not  know,  but  two  letters 
had  come  to  me  that  were  very  good  and  affection 
ate,  quite  different  from  my  aunt's,  but  even  these 
my  father  would  not  let  me  answer ;  it  would  be  all 
the  same  thing,  he  said,  as  if  I  opened  communica 
tion  with  my  Aunt  Keswick. 
11 


1 62  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  Therefore,  out  of  respect  to  my  father,  and  also 
in  accordance  with  my  own  wishes,  I  gave  up  all  idea 
of  coming  down  here,  and  went  to  work  to  support 
myself.  I  tried  several  things,  and,  at  last,  through 
a  friend  of  my  father,  who  was  a  regular  customer 
of  Mr  Candy,  I  got  the  position  of  cashier  in  the 
Information  Shop.  It  was  an  awfully  queer  place, 
but  the  work  was  very  easy,  and  I  soon  got  used  to 
it.  Then  you  came  making  inquiries  for  an  address. 
At  first  I  did  not  know  that  the  person  you  wanted 
was  Junius  Keswick  and  my  cousin,  but  after  I  be 
gan  to  look  into  the  matter  I  found  that  it  must  be 
he  who  you  were  after.  Then  I  became  very  much 
troubled,  for  I  liked  Junius,  who  was  the  only  one 
of  my  blood  whom  I  had  any  reason  to  care  for ; 
and  when  one  sees  a  person  setting  a  detective — for 
it  is  all  the  same  thing — upon  the  track  of  another 
person,  one  is  very  apt  to  think  that  some  harm  is 
intended  to  the  person  that  is  being  looked  up.  I 
did  not  know  what  business  Junius  was  in,  nor  what 
his  condition  was,  but  even  if  he  had  been  doing 
wrong,  I  did  not  wish  you  to  find  him  until  I  had 
first  seen  him,  and  then,  if  I  found  you  could  do  him 
any  harm,  I  would  warn  him  to  keep  out  of  your 
way." 

"  Do  you  think  that  was  fair  treatment  of  me  ?  " 
asked  Croft. 

"You  were  nothing  to  me,  and  Junius  was  a  great 
deal,"  she  answered.  "  And  yet  I  think  I  was  fair 
enough.  The  only  money  you  paid  was  what  Mr 
Candy  charged ;  and  when  I  spoke  of  receiving 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  163 

money  for  my  services  when  the  affair  was  finished 
I  only  did  it  that  it  might  all  be  more  business  like, 
and  that  you  should  not  drop  me  and  set  somebody 
else  looking  after  Junius.  That  was  the  great  thing 
I  was  afraid  of,  so  I  did  all  I  could  to  make  you 
satisfied  with  me." 

"  I  don't  see  how  your  conscience  could  allow  you 
to  do  all  this,"  said  Croft. 

"  My  conscience  was  very  much  pleased  with  me," 
was  the  answer.  "  What  I  did  was  a  stratagem,  and 
perfectly  fair  too.  If  I  had  found  that  it  was  right 
for  you  to  see  Junius,  I  would  have  done  everything 
I  could  to  help  you  communicate  with  him.  But 
when  I  did  at  last  see  him,  down  you  swooped  upon 
us  before  \  had  an  opportunity  of  saying  a  word 
about  you." 

"Your  marriage  was  a  very  fortunate  thing  for 
you,"  said  Mr  Croft,  "  for  if  it  had  not  been  for  that 
I  should  never  have  allowed  you  to  go  about  the 
country  looking  up  a  gentleman  in  my  behalf.  But 
how  did  you  get  over  your  repugnance  to  your 
aunt?" 

"  I  didn't  get  over  it,"  she  said,  "  I  conquered  it, 
for  I  found  that  this  was  the  most  likely  place  to 
meet  Junius.  And  Aunt  Keswick  has  certainly 
treated  me  in  the  kindest  manner,  although  she  is 

o 

very  angry  about  Mr  Null.  But  when  I  first  came 
and  she  did  not  know  who  I  was,  she  behaved  in 
the  most  extraordinary  manner." 

"  What  did  she  do  ?"  asked  Croft. 

"  Never  you    mind,"  she   answered,  with   a  little 


1 64  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

laugh.  "  You  can't  expect  to  know  all  the  family 
affairs." 

They  had  now  arrived  at  Aunt  Patsy's  cabin,  and 
Mrs  Null  entered,  followed  at  a  little  distance  by 
Croft.  The  old  woman  had  seen  them  as  they  were 
walking  along  the  road,  and  her  little  black  eyes 
sparkled  with  peculiar  animation  behind  her  great 
spectacles.  Her  granddaughter  happened  not  to 
be  at  home,  but  Aunt  Patsy  got  up,  and  with  her 
apron  rubbed  off  the  bottoms  of  two  chairs,  which 
she  placed  in  convenient  positions  for  her  expected 
visitors.  When  they  came  in  they  found  her  in  a 
very  perturbed  condition.  She  answered  Mrs  Null's 
questions  with  a  very  few  words  and  a  great  many 
grunts,  and  kept  her  eyes  fixed  nearly  all  the  time 
upon  Mr  Croft,  endeavoring  to  find  out,  perhaps,  if 
he  had  yet  been  subjected  to  any  kind  of  conjuring. 

When  all  the  questions  which  young  people  gen 
erally  put  to  old  servants  had  been  asked  by  Mrs 
Null,  and  Croft  had  made  as  many  remarks  as  might 
have  been  expected  of  him  in  regard  to  the  age  and 
recollections  of  this  interesting  old  negress,  Aunt 
Patsy  began  to  be  much  more  disturbed,  fearing 
that  the  interview  was  about  to  come  to  an  end. 
She  actually  got  up  and  went  to  the  back  door  to 
look  for  Eliza. 

"  Do  you  want  her?"  anxiously  inquired  Mrs 
Null,  going  to  the  old  woman's  side. 

"  Yaas,  I  wants  her,"  said  Aunt  Patsy.  "  I  'spec' 
she  at  Aggy's  house — dat  cabin  ober  dar — but  I 
can't  holler  loud  'nuf  to  make  her  h'yere  me." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  165 

"  I'll  run  over  there  and  tell  her  you  want  her," 
said  Mrs  Null,  stepping  out  of  the  door. 

"  Dat's  a  good  chile,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  with  more 
warmth  than  she  had  yet  exhibited.  "  Dat's  your 
own  mudder's  good  chile !  "  And  then  she  turned 
quickly  into  the  room. 

Croft  had  risen  as  if  he  were  about  to  follow  Mrs 
Null,  or,  at  least,  to  see  where  she  had  gone.  But 
Aunt  Patsy  stopped  him.  "  Jus'  you  stay  h'yar 
one  little  minute,"  she  said,  hurriedly.  "  I  got  one 
word  to  say  to  you,  sah."  And  she  stood  up  before 
him  as  erect  as  she  could,  fixing  her  great  spectacles 
directly  upon  him.  "  You  look  out,  sah,  fur  ole 
miss,"  she  said,  in  a  voice,  naturally  shrill,  but  now 
heavily  handicapped  by  age  and  emotion,  "  ole  Miss 
Keswick,  I  means.  She  boun'  to  do  you  harm,  sah. 
She  tole  me  so  wid  her  own  mouf." 

"  Mrs  Keswick  !  "  exclaimed  Croft.  "  Why,  you 
must  be  mistaken,  good  aunty.  She  can  have  no 
ill  feelings  towards  me." 

"  Don'  you  b'lieve  dat ! "  said  the  old  woman. 
"  Don'  you  b'lieve  one  word  ob  dat !  She  hate  you, 
sah,  she  hate  you  !  She  not  gwine  to  tell  you  dat. 
She  make  you  think  she  like  you  fus'  rate,  an'  den  de 
nex'  thing  you  knows,  she  kunjer  you,  an'  shribble 
up  de  siners  ob  your  legs,  an'  gib  you  mis'ry  in  your 
back,  wot  you  neber  git  rid  of  no  moh'.  Can't  tell 
you  nuffin'  else  now,  for  h'yar  comes  Miss  Annie," 
she  added  hurriedly,  and,  stepping  to  the  bedside, 
she  drew  from  under  the  mattrass  a  pair  of  little  blue 
shoes,  tied  together  by  their  strings.  "  Jes'  you  take 


1 66  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

dese  h'yar  shoes,"  she  said,  "  an'  ef  eber  you  think 
ole  miss  gwine  ter  kunjer  you,  jes'  you  hoi'  up  dem 
shoes  right  afore  her  face.  Dar  now,  stuff  'em  in 
your  pocket.  Don'  you  tell  Miss  Annie  wot  I 
done  say  to  you.  'Member  dat,  sah.  It  ud  kill  her, 
shuh." 

At  this  moment  Mrs  Null  entered,  just  as  the 
shoes  had  been  slipped  into  the  side-pocket  of  Mr 
Croft's  coat  by  the  old  woman.  And  as  she  did  so, 
she  whispered,  in  a  tone  that  could  not  but  have  its 
effect  upon  him,  "  Now,  nebber  tell  her,  honey." 

"  Here  is  Eliza,"  said  Mrs  Null,  as  she  came  in,  fol 
lowed  by  the  great  granddaughter.  "  And  I  think," 
she  said  to  Mr  Croft,  "  it  is  time  for  us  to  go.  Good 
bye,  Aunt  Patsy.  You  can  send  back  the  basket  by 
Eliza." 

When  the  two  left  the  cabin,  Croft  walked 
thoughtfully  for  a  few  moments,  wondering  what  in 
the  world  the  old  woman  could  have  meant  by  her 
strange  words  and  gift  to  him.  Concluding,  how 
ever,  that  they  could  have  been  nothing  but  the 
drivelings  of  weak-minded  old  age,  he  dismissed 
them  from  his  mind  and  turned  his  attention  to  his 
companion.  "  We  were  speaking,"  he  said,  "  of  Mr 
Null.  Do  you  expect  him  shortly?" 

"  Well,  no, ''said  the  lady.    "  I  can't  say  that  I  do." 

"  That  is  odd,"  said  Lawrence.  "  I  thought  this 
was  your  wedding  journey." 

"  So  it  is,  in  a  measure,"  said  she,  "  but  there  is  no 
necessity  of  his  coming  here.  Didn't  I  tell  you  that 
my  aunt  was  opposed  to  the  marriage  ?  " 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  167 

"  But  she  might  as  well  make  up  her  mind  to  it 
now,"  he  said. 

"  She  is  not  in  the  habit  of  making  up  her  mind  to 
things  she  don't  like.  Do  you  know,"  she  added, 
looking  around  with  a  half  smile,  as  if  she  took  pleas 
ure  in  astonishing  him,  "  that  Aunt  Keswick  is  going 
to  try  to  have  us  divorced  ?  " 

"  What  !  "  exclaimed  Croft.  "  Divorced  !  Is  there 
any  ground  for  it  ?  " 

"  She  has  other  matrimonial  plans  for  me,  that's 
all." 

"  What  an  extraordinary  individual  she  must  be  !  " 
he  exclaimed.  "  But  she  can  never  carry  out  such  a 
ridiculous  scheme  as  that." 

"  I  don't  know,"  she  said.  "  She  has  already  con 
sulted  Mr  Brandon  on  the  subject." 

"  What  nonsense  !  "  cried  Croft.  "  If  you  and  Mr 
Null  are  satisfied,  nobody  else  has  anything  to  do 
with  it." 

"  Mr  Null  and  I  are  of  one  mind,"  said  she,  "  and 
agree  perfectly.  But  don't  you  think  it  is  a  terrible 
thing  to  know  you  must  always  face  an  irritated 
aunt?" 

u  Oh,"  said  Croft,  looking  around  at  her  very 
coldly  and  sternly,  "  I  begin  to  see.  I  suppose  a 
separation  would  improve  your  prospects  in  life. 
But  it  can't  be  done  if  your  husband  is  opposed 
to  it." 

"  Mr  Croft,"  said  the  lady,  her  face  flushing  a 
good  deal,  "  you  have  no  right  to  speak  to  me  in 
that  way,  and  attribute  such  motives  to  me.  No 


1 68  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

matter  who  I  had  married,  I  would  never  give  him  up 
for  the  sake  of  money,  or  a  farm,  or  anything  you 
think  my  aunt  could  give  me." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon/'  said  Croft,  "  if  I  made  a 
mistake,  but  I  don't  see  what  else  I  could  infer  from 
your  remarks." 

"  My  remarks,"  said  she,  "  were, — well,  they  have 
a  different  meaning  from  what  you  supposed."  She 
walked  on  in  silence  for  a  few  moments,  and  then, 
looking  up  to  her  companions,  she  said  :  "  I  have 
a  great  mind  to  tell  you  something,  if  you  will 
promise,  at  least  for  the  present,  not  to  breathe  it  to 
a  living  soul." 

Instantly  the  lookout  on  the  bow  of  Lawrence 
Croft's  life  action  called  out :  "  Breakers  ahead  !  " 
and  almost  instantly  its  engine  was  stopped,  and 
every  faculty  of  its  commander  was  on  the  alert. 
" 1  do  not  know,"  he  said,  "  that  I  am  entitled  to 
your  confidence.  Would  it  be  of  any  advantage  to 
you  to  tell  me  what  you  propose  ?  " 

"  It  would  be  of  advantage,  and  you  are  entitled," 
she  added  quickly.  "  It  is  about  Mr  Null,  and  you 
ought  to  know  it,  for  you  instigated  my  wedded  life." 

"  I  instigated  !  " — exclaimed  Mr  Croft.  And  then 
he  stopped  short,  both  in  his  speech  and  walk. 

"Yes,"  said  the  lady,  stopping  also,  and  turning 
to  face  him,  "  you  did,  and  you  ought  to  remember 
it.  You  said  if  I  had  a  husband  to  travel  about 
with  me  you  would  like  very  much  to  employ  me  in 
the  search  for  Mr  Keswick,  and  it  was  solely  on  that 
account  that  I  went  and  got  married." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  169 

Observing  the  look  of  blank  and  utter  amazement 
on  his  face,  she  smiled,  and  said  :  "  Please  don't  look 
so  horribly  astonished.  Mr  Null  is  void." 

As  she  made  this  remark  the  lady  looked  up  at 
her  companion  with  a  smile  and  an  expression 
of  curiosity  as  to  how  he  would  take  the  announce 
ment.  Lawrence  gazed  blankly  at  her  for  a  mo 
ment,  and  then  he  broke  into  a  laugh.  "  You  don't 
mean  to  say,"  he  exclaimed,  "  that  Mr  Null  is  an 
imaginary  being?  " 

"  Entirely  so,"  she  replied.  u  My  dear  Freddy 
is  nothing  but  a  fanciful  idea,  with  no  attribute 
whatever  except  the  name." 

"You  are  a  most  extraordinary  young  person," 
said  Lawrence ;  "  almost  as  extraordinary  as  your 
aunt.  What  in  the  world  made  you  think  of  doing 
such  a  thing?  and  why  do  you  wish  to  keep  up  the 
delusion  among  your  relatives,  even  so  far  as  to 
drive  your  aunt  to  the  point  of  getting  you  divorced 
from  your  airy  husband  ?  "  And  he  laughed  again. 

"  I  told  you  how  I  came  to  think  of  it,"  she  said, 
as  they  walked  on  again.  "  It  was  very  plain  that 
if  I  wanted  to  travel  about  as  your  agent  I  must  be 
married,  and  I  have  found  a  husband  quite  a  pro 
tection  and  an  advantage,  even  when  he  doesn't  go 
about  with  me;  and  as  to  keeping  up  the  delusion, 
as  you  call  it,  in  my  own  family,  I  have  found  that 
to  be  absolutely  necessary,  at  least  for  the  present. 
My  aunt,  even  when  I  was  a  little  girl,  determined 
to  take  my  marriage  into  her  own  hands  ;  and  since  I 
have  returned  to  her,  this  desire  has  come  up  again 


1 70  The  Late  Mrs  NulL 

in  the  most  astonishing  way.  It  is  her  principal 
subject  of  conversation  with  me.  Were  it  not  for 
the  protection  which  my  dear  Freddy  Null  gives 
me  I  should  be  thrown  bodily  into  the  arms  of  the' 
person  whom  my  aunt  has  selected,  and  he  would 
be  obliged  to  take  me,  whether  he  wanted  to  or  not, 
or  be  cast  forth  forever.  So  you  see  how  important 
it  is  that  my  aunt  should  think  I  am  married ;  and 
I  do  hope  you  will  not  tell  anybody  about  Mr 
Null." 

"  Of  course  I  will  keep  your  secret,"  said  Croft. 
"You  may  rely  upon  that;  but  don't  you  think— 
do  you  believe  that  this  sort  of  thing  is  altogether 
right?" 

She  did  not  answer  for  a  few  moments,  and  then 
she  said :  "  I  suppose  you  must  consider  me  a  very 
deceptive  sort  of  person,  but  you  should  remember 
that  these  things  were  not  done  for  my  own  good, 
and,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  they  were  the  only  things 
that  could  be  done.  Do  you  suppose  I  was  going 
to  let  you  pounce  down  on  my  cousin  and  do  him 
some  injury,  for,  as  you  kept  your  object  such  a 
secret,  I  did  not  suppose  it  could  be  anything  but  an 
injury  you  intended  him." 

"  A  fine  opinion  of  me  !  "  said  Croft. 

"And  then,  do  you  suppose,"  she  continued, 
"that  I  would  allow  my  aunt  to  quarrel  with  Junius 
and  disinherit  him,  as  she  says  she  will,  should  he 
decline  to  marry  me.  I  expected  to  drop  my  mar 
ried  name  when  I  came  here,  but  I  had  not  been 
with  my  aunt  fifteen  minutes  before  I  saw  that  it 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  171 

would  never  do  for  me  to  be  a  single  woman  while  I 
stayed  with  her ;  and  so  I  kept  my  Freddy  by  me. 
I  did  not  intend,  at  all,  to  tell  you  all  these  things 
about  my  cousin,  and  I  only  did  it  because  I  did  not 
wish  you  to  think  that  I  was  a  sly,  mean  creature, 
deceiving  others  for  my  own  good." 

"  Well,"  said  Croft,  "  although  I  can't  say  you  are 
right  in  making  your  relatives  believe  you  are  mar 
ried  when  you  are  not,  still  I  see  you  had  very  fair 
reasons  for  what  you  did,  and  you  certainly  showed 
a  great  deal  of  ingenuity  and  pluck  in  carrying  out 
your  remarkable  schemes.  By-the-way,"  he  con 
tinued,  somewhat  hesitatingly,  "  I  am  in  your  debt 
for  your  services  to  me." 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it ! "  she  exclaimed  quickly.  "  I 
never  did  a  thing  for  you.  It  was  all  for  myself,  or, 
rather,  for  my  cousin.  The  only  money  due  was 
that  which  you  paid  to  Mr  Candy  before  I  took 
charge  of  the  matter." 

Lawrence  felt  that  this  was  rather  a  sore  subject 
with  his  companion,  and  he  dropped  it.  "  Do  you 
still  hold  the  position  of  cashier  in  the  Information 
Shop  ?  " 

"No,"  she  said.  "When  I  started  out  on  my 
lonely  wedding  tour  I  gave  up  that,  and  if  I  should 
go  back  to  New  York,  I  do  not  think  I  should  want 
to  take  it  again." 

"  Do  you  propose  soon  to  return  to  New  York?  " 
he  asked. 

"  No ;  at  least  I  have  made  no  plans  in  regard 
to  it.  I  think  it  would  grieve  my  aunt  very  much 


172  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

if  I  were  to  go  away  from  her  now,  and  as  long  as  I 
have  Mr  Null  to  protect  me  from  her  matrimonial 
schemes,  I  am  glad  to  stay  with  her.  She  is  very 
kind  to  me." 

"  I  think  you  are  entirely  right  in  deciding  to  stay 
here,"  he  said,  looking  around  at  her,  and  contrast 
ing  in  his  mind  the  bright-faced,  and  somewhat 
plump  young  person  walking  beside  him  with  the 
thin-faced  girl  in  black  whom  he  had  seen  behind 
the  cashier's  desk. 

"  Now,"  said  she,  with  a  vivacious  little  laugh,  "  I 
have  poured  out  my  whole  soul  before  you,  and,  in 
return,  I  want  you  to  gratify  a  curiosity  which  is 
fairly  eating  me  up.  Why  were  you  so  anxious  to 
find  my  Cousin  Junius?  And  how  did  you  happen 
to  come  here  the  very  day  after  he  arrived  ?  And, 
more  than  that,  how  was  it  that  you  had  seen  him 
at  Midbranch  so  recently  ?  You  were  talking  about 
it  last  night.  It  couldn't  have  been  my  letter  from 
Howlett's  that  brought  you  down  here?" 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence,  "  my  meeting  with  Mr 
Keswick  at  Midbranch  was  entirely  accidental. 
When  I  arrived  there,  a  few  days  ago,  I  had  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  I  should  meet  him.  But  I 
must  ask  you  to  excuse  me  from  giving  my  reasons 
for  wishing  to  find  your  cousin,  and  for  coming  to 
see  him  here.  The  matter  between  us  has  now 
become  one  of  no  importance,  and  will  be  dropped." 

The  lady's  face  flushed.  "  Oh,  indeed !  "  she  said. 
And  during  the  short  remainder  of  their  walk  to 
the  house  she  made  no  further  remark. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

WHEN  Lawrence  and  his  companion  reached  the 
house,  they  found  on  the  porch  Mrs  Keswick  and 
her  nephew  ;  and,  after  a  little  general  conversation, 
the  latter  remarked  to  Mr  Croft  that  he  had  found 
it  would  not  be  in  his  power  to  attend  to  that 
matter  he  had  spoken  of ;  to  which  Croft  replied 
that  he  was  very  much  obliged  to  him  for  thinking 
of  it,  and  that  it  was  of  no  consequence  at  all,  as  he 
would  probably  make  other  arrangements.  He  then 
stated  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  return  to  the 
Green  Sulphur  Springs  that  day,  and  that,  as  it  was 
a  long  ride,  he  would  like  to  start  as  soon  as  his 
horse  could  be  brought  to  him.  But  this  procedure 
was  condemned  utterly  by  the  old  lady,  who  insisted 
that  Mr  Croft  should  not  leave  until  after  dinner, 
which  meal  should  be  served  earlier  than  usual  in 
order  to  give  him  plenty  of  time  to  get  to  the 
Springs  before  dark,  and  as  Lawrence  had  nothing 
to  oppose  to  her  very  urgent  protest,  he  consented 
to  stay.  Before  dinner  was  ready  he  found  out 
why  the  protest  was  made.  The  old  lady  took  him 
aside  and  made  inquiries  of  him  in  regard  to  Mr 
Null.  He  had  already  informed  her  that,  he  was 
not  acquainted  with  that  gentleman,  but  she  thought, 
as  Mr  Croft  seemed  to  be  going  about  the  country 


174  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

a  good  deal,  he  might  possibly  meet  with  her  niece's 
husband  ;  and,  if  he  should  do  so,  she  would  be 
very  glad  to  have  him  become  acquainted  with  him. 

To  this  Lawrence  replied  with  much  gravity  that 
he  would  be  happy  to  do  so. 

"Mr  Null  has  not  yet  come  to  my  house,"  said 
Mrs  Keswick,  "  and  it  is  very  natural  that  one 
should  desire  to  know  the  husband  of  her  only  niece 
who  is,  or  should  be,  the  same  as  a  daughter  to 
her." 

"  A  very  natural  wish  indeed,"  said  Lawrence. 

"  I  am  not  quite  sure  in  what  business  Mr  Null  is 
engaged,"  she  continued,  "  and,  although  I  asked 
my  niece  about  it,  she  answered  in  a  very  evasive 
way,  which  makes  me  think  his  occupation  is  one 
she  is  not  proud  of.  I  have  reason  to  suppose, 
however,  that  he  is  an  agent  for  the  sale  of  some 
fertilizing  compound." 

At  this  Lawrence  could  not  help  smiling  very 
broadly. 

"  It  may  appear  very  odd  and  ridiculous  to  you," 
she  said,  u  that  a  person  connected  with  my  family 
should  be  engaged  in  a  business  like  that,  for  those 
fertilizers,  as  you  ought  to  know,  are  all  humbugs 
of  the  vilest  kind.  The  only  time  I  bought  any  it 
took  my  whole  wheat  crop  to  pay  for  it,  and  as  for 
the  clover  I  got  afterward,  a  grasshopper  could  have 
eaten  the  whole  of  it.  I  am  afraid  he  didn't  tell 
her  his  business  before  he  married  her,  and  I'm  glad 
she's  ashamed  of  it.  As  far  as  I  can  find  out,  it  does 
not  seem  as  if  Mr  Null  has  any  intention  of  coming 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  175 

here  for  some  time ;  and,  as  I  said  before,  I  do  very 
much  want  to  know  something  about  him — that  is 
from  a  disinterested  outsider.  One  cannot  expect 
a  recently  married  young  woman  to  give  a  correct 
account  of  her  husband." 

"  I  do  not  believe,"  said  Mr  Croft,  "  that  there  is 
any  probability  that  I  shall  ever  meet  the  gentleman 
— our  walks  in  life  being  so  different." 

"  I  should  hope  so,  indeed !  "  interrupted  Mrs 
Keswick.  "  But  people  of  all  sorts  do  run  across 
each  other." 

"  But  if  I  do  meet  with  him,"  he  continued,  "  I 
shall  take  great  pleasure  in  giving  you  my  impres 
sions  by  letter,  or  in  person,  of  your  nephew-in-law." 

"  Don't  call  him  that ! "  exclaimed  the  old  lady 
with  much  asperity.  "  I  don't  acknowledge  the 
title.  But  I  won't  say  any  more  about  him,"  with 
a  grim  smile,  "  or  you  may  think  I  don't  like  him." 

"  Some  of  these  days,"  he  said,  "  you  may  come  to 
be  of  the  opinion  that  he  is  exactly  the  husband 
you  would  wish  your  niece  to  have." 

"Never!"  she  cried.  "If  he  were  an  angel  in 
broadcloth.  But  I  mustn't  talk  about  these  things. 
I  mentioned  Mr  Null  to  you  because  you  are  the 
only  person  of  my  acquaintance  who,  I  suppose,  is 
likely  to  meet  with  him.  In  regard  to  that  little 
company  I  spoke  of  to  you,  I  have  not  quite  made 
up  my  mind  about  it,  and,  therefore,  haven't  men 
tioned  it  ;  but  if  I  carry  out  the  plan  I  will  write  to 
you  at  the  Springs,  and  shall  certainly  expect  you 
to  be  one  of  us." 


176  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  That  would  give  me  great  pleasure,"  said  Law 
rence,  in  a  tone  which  indicated  to  the  quick  brain 
of  the  old  lady  that  he  would  like  to  make  a  con 
dition,  but  was  too  polite  to  do  so. 

"  If  Miss  March  should  agree  to  come,"  she  said, 
"  it  might  be  pleasant  for  you  to  make  one  of  her 
party  and  ride  over  at  the  same  time.  However,  I'll 
let  you  know  if  she  is  coming,  and  then  you  can  join 
her  or  not,  as  suits  your  convenience." 

"  Thank  you  very  much,"  said  Lawrence,  in  a  tone 
which  betrayed  no  reserves. 

As  he  rode  away  that  afternoon,  Lawrence  Croft, 
as  his  habit  was  on  such  occasions,  revolved  in  his 
mind  what  he  had  heard  and  said  and  done  during 
this  little  visit  to  the  Keswick  family.  "  Nothing 
could  have  turned  out  better,"  he  thought.  "  To  be 
sure  the  young  man  could  not  or  would  not  be  of 
any  assistance  to  me,  which  is  probably  what  I  ought 
to  have  expected,  but  the  strong-tempered  old  lady, 
his  aunt,  promises  to  be  of  tenfold  more  service  than 
he  could  possibly  be.  As  to  that  very  odd  young 
lady,  Mrs  Keswick's  niece,  I  imagine  that  she  does 
not  regard  me  very  favorably,  for  she  was  quite  cool 
after  I  refused  to  let  her  into  the  secret  of  my  desire 
to  find  her  cousin,  but  as  I  did  not  ask  for  her  confi 
dences,  she  had  no  right  to  expect  a  return  for  them. 
And,  by-the-way,  it's  odd  how  many  confidences  have 
been  reposed  in  me  since  I've  been  down  here. 
Keswick  begins  it ;  then  old  Brandon  takes  up  the 
strain  ;  after  that  Mr  Candy's  ex-cashier  tells  me  the 
story  of  her  life,  and  entrusts  me  with  the  secret  of 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  177 

her  marriage  with  a  man  of  wind — that  most  useful 
Mr  Null ;  after  that,  her  aunt  makes  me  understand 
how  much  she  hates  Mr  Null,  and  how  she  would 
like  me  to  find  out  something  disreputable  about 
him ;  and  then — ,  by  George !  I  forgot  the  old 
negro  woman  in  the  cabin  ! "  At  this  he  put  his 
hand  in  the  side-pocket  of  his  coat,  and  drew  out 
the  pair  of  little  blue  shoes.  "  Why  in  the  name 
of  common  sense  did  the  old  hag  give  me  these  ? 
And  why  should  she  suppose  that  Mrs  Keswick 
intended  me  a  harm  ?  The  old  lady  never  saw  or 
heard  of  me  until  yesterday,  and  her  manner  cer 
tainly  indicated  no  dislike  of  me.  But,  of  course, 
Aunt  Patsy's  brain  is  cracked,  and  she  didn't  know 
what  she  was  talking  about.  I  shall  keep  the  shoes, 
however,  and  if  ever  the  venerable  purple  sun- 
bonnet  runs  afoul  of  me,  I  shall  hold  them  up  before 
it  and  see  what  happens." 

And  so,  very  well  satisfied  with  the  result  of  his 
visit  to  Hewlett's,  he  rode  on  to  the  Green  Sulphur 
Springs. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day  Miss  March  re 
ceived  an  invitation  from  Mrs  Keswick  to  spend 
a  few  days  with  her,  and  make  the  acquaintance 
of  her  niece  who  had  recently  returned  to  the 
home  of  her  childhood.  The  letter,  for  it  was 
much  more  than  a  note  of  invitation,  was  cordial, 
and  in  parts  pathetic.  It  dwelt  upon  the  sundered 
pleasant  relations  of  the  two  families,  and  expressed 
the  hope  that  Mr  Brandon's  visit  to  her  might  be 
the  beginning  of  a  renewal  of  the  old  intimacy. 

12 


178  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Mrs  Keswick  took  occasion  to  incidentally  mention 
that  the  house  would  be  particularly  dull  for  her 
niece  just  now,  as  Junius  was  on  the  point  of  start 
ing  for  Washington,  where  he  would  be  detained 
some  weeks  on  business ;  and  she  hoped,  most  earn 
estly,  that  Miss  Roberta  would  accept  this  invita 
tion  to  make  her  acquaintance  and  that  of  her 
niece  ;  and  she  designated  Thursday  of  the  follow 
ing  week  as  the  day  on  which  she  would  like  her  to 
come. 

As  may  reasonably  be  supposed,  this  letter  greatly 
astonished  Miss  March,  who  carried  it  to  her  uncle, 
and  asked  him  to  explain,  if  he  could,  what  it  meant. 
The  old  gentleman  was  a  good  deal  surprised  when 
he  read  it ;  but  it  delighted  him  in  a  far  greater 
degree.  He  perceived  in  it  the  first  fruits  of  his 
diplomacy.  Mrs  Keswick  saw  that  it  would  be  to 
her  interest,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  make  friends 
with  him  ;  and  this  was  the  way  she  took  to  do  it. 
She  would  not  come  to  Midbranch  herself,  and  bring 
the  niece,  but  she  would  have  Roberta  come  to  her. 
In  the  pathos  and  cordiality  Mr  Brandon  believed 
not  at  all.  What  the  old  hypocrite  probably  wanted 
was  to  enlist  his  grateful  sympathy  in  that  ridiculous 
divorce  case.  But,  whatever  her  motives  might 
be,  he  would  be  very  glad  to  have  his  niece  go  to 
her ;  for  if  anything  could  make  an  impression  upon 
that  time-hardened  and  seasoned  old  chopping-block 
of  a  woman,  it  was  Roberta's  personal  influence. 
If  Mrs  Keswick  should  come  to  know  Roberta, 
that  knowledge  would  do  more  than  anything  else 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  179 

in  the  world  to  remove  her  objections  to  the  mar 
riage  he  so  greatly  desired. 

He  said  nothing  of  all  this  to  his  niece  ;  but  he 
most  earnestly  counselled  her  to  accept  the  invita 
tion  and  make  a  visit  to  the  two  ladies.  Of  course 
Roberta  did  not  care  to  go,  but  as  her  uncle  ap 
peared  to  take  the  matter  so  much  to  heart,  she 
consented  to  gratify  him,  and  wrote  an  acceptance. 
She  found,  also,  when  she  had  thought  more  on  the 
matter,  that  she  had  a  good  deal  of  curiosity  to  see 
this  Mrs  Keswick,  of  whom  she  had  heard  so  much, 
and  who  had  had  such  an  important  influence  on 
her  life. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ON  the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which  Mrs  Kes- 
wick's  letter  arrived  at  Midbranch,  Peggy  had  great 
news  to  communicate  to  Aunt  Judy,  the  cook : 
"  Miss  Rob's  gwine  to  Mahs'  Junius' house  in  de 
kerridge,  an'  I's  gwine  'long  wid  her  to  set  in  front 
wid  Sam." 

"  Mahs'  Junius  aint  got  no  house,"  said  Aunt 
Judy,  turning  around  very  suddenly.  "  Does  you 
mean  she  gwine  ter  old  Miss  Keswick's  ?  " 

"  Yaas,"  answered  Peggy. 

"  Well,  den,  why  don'  you  say  so  ?  Dat  aint 
Mahs'  Junius'  house  nohow,  though  he  lib  dar  as 
much  as  he  lib  anywhar.  Wot  she  gwine  dar  fur  ?  " 

"Gwine  to  git  married,  I  reckon,"  said  Peggy. 

"Git  out!"  ejaculated  Aunt  Judy.  "Wid  you 
fur  bride'maid  ?  " 

"Dunno,"  answered  Peggy.  "She  done  tole  me 
she  didn't  think  she'd  have  much  use  fur  me,  but 
Mahs'  Robert,  he  said  it  were  too  far  fur  her  to  go 
widout  a  maid  ;  but  ef  she  want  me  fur  bride'maid 
I'll  do  dat  too." 

"You  bawn  fool!"  shouted  Aunt  Judy.  "You 
ain't  got  sense  'nuf  to  hook  the  frocks  ob  de  brides 
maids.  An  dat's  all  fool  talk  about  Miss  Rob  gwine 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  181 

dar  to  be  married.  When  she  an'  Mahs'  Junius  hab 
de  weddin',  dey'll  hab  it  h'yar,  ob  course.  She 
gwine  to  see  ole  Miss  Keswick,  coz  dat's  de  way  de 
fus'  fam'lies  allus  does  afore  dey  hab  dere  weddin'. 
I's  pow'ful  glad  she's  gwine  dar,  instid  ob  ole  Miss 
Keswick  comin'  h'yar.  I  don'  wan'  her  kunjerin' 
me,  an'  she'd  do  dat  as  quick  as  winkin'  ef  de  batter 
bread's  a  leetle  burned,  or  dar's  too  much  salt  in  de 
soup.  You's  got  to  keep  youse'f  mighty  straight, 
you  Peggy,  when  you  gits  whar  ole  Miss  Keswick  is. 
Don'  you  come  none  ob  your  fool  tricks,  or  she  kun- 
jer  you,  an'  one  ob  your  legs  curl  up  like  a  pig's  tail, 
an'  neber  uncurl  no  moh'.  How  you  like  dat  ?  " 

To  this  Peggy  made  no  reply,  but  with  her  eyes 
steadfastly  fixed  on  Aunt  Judy,  and  her  lower  jaw 
very  much  dropped,  she  mentally  resolved  to  keep 
herself  as  straight  as  possible  during  her  stay  at  the 
Keswick's. 

"  Dar's  ole  Aun'  Patsy,"  continued  the  speaker. 
"  It's  a  mighty  long  time  sence  I've  seen  Aun' 
Patsy.  Dat  was  when  I  went  ober  dar  wid  Miss 
Rob's  mudder  when  de  two  fam'lys  was  fren's.  I 
was  her  maid,  an'  went  wid  her  jes  as  Mahs'  Robert 
wants  you  ter  go  'long  wid  Miss  Rob.  He  ain't 
gwine  to  furgit  how  they  did  in  de  ole  times  when 
de  ladies  went  visitin'  in  dere  kerridges  fur  to  stay 
free,  four  days.  Aun'  Patsy  were  pow'ful  ole  den, 
but  she  didn't  die  soon  'nuf,  an'  ole  Miss  Keswick 
she  kunjer  her,  an'  now  she  can't  die  at  all." 

"  Neber  die  !  "  ejaculated  Peggy. 

"  Neber    die,    nohow  !  "     answered    Aunt    Judy. 


1 82  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  Mighty  often  she  thought  she  gwine  to  die  but 
'twarnt  no  use.  She  can't  do  it.  An'  de  las'  time  I 
hear  ob  her,  she  alibe  yit,  jes'  de  same  as  eber.  An' 
dar  was  Mahs'  John  Keswick.  She  cunjer  him  coz 
he  rode  de  gray  colt  to  de  Coht  House  when  she 
done  tole  him  to  let  dat  gray  colt  alone,  coz  'twarnt 
hisen  but  hern,  an'  he  go  shoot  hese'f  dead  by  de 
gate  pos'.  You's  got  to  go  fru  by  dat  pos'  when 
you  go  inter  de  gate." 

"  Dat  same  pos' !  "  cried  Peggy. 

"  Yaas,"  said  Aunt  Judy,  "  dat  same  one.  An' 
dey  tells  me  dat  on  third  Chewsdays,  which  is  Coht 
day,  de  same  as  when  he  took  de  gray  colt,  as  soon 
as  it  git  dark  he  ghos'  climb  up  to  de  top  ob  dat 
pos',  an'  set  dar  all  night." 

With  a  conjuring  old  woman  in  the  house,  and  a 
monthly  ghost  on  the  gate-post  outside,  the  Kes 
wick  residence  did  not  appear  as  attractive  to  Peggy 
as  it  had  done  before,  but  she  mentally  determined 
that  while  she  was  there  she  would  be  very  careful 
to  look  out  sharp  for  herself,  a  performance  for 
which  she  was  very  well  adapted. 

It  was  on  a  pleasant  autumn  morning  that  Mr 
Brandon  very  carefully  ensconced  his  niece  in  the 
family  carriage,  with  Peggy  and  a  trusty  negro  man, 
Sam,  on  the  outside  front  seat.  "  I  would  gladly 
go  with  you,  my  dear,"  he  said,  "  even  without  the 
formality  of  an  invitation,  but  it  is  far  better  for 
you  to  go  by  yourself.  My  very  presence  would 
provoke  an  antagonism  in  the  old  lady,  while  with 
you,  personally,  it  is  impossible  that  any  such  feeling 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  183 

should  exist.  I  hope  your  visit  may  do  away  with 
all  ill  feeling  between  our  families." 

"  I  want  you  to  understand,  uncle,"  said  Miss 
Roberta,  "  that  I  am  making  this  visit  almost  en 
tirely  to  please  you,  and  I  shall  do  everything  in 
my  power  to  make  Mrs  Keswick  feel  that  you  and 
I  are  perfectly  well  disposed  toward  her  ;  but  you 
can't  expect  me  to  exhibit  any  great  warmth  of 
friendship  toward  a  person  who  once  used  such 
remarkable  and  violent  expressions  in  regard  to 
me." 

"  But  those  feelings,  my  dear,"  said  Mr  Brandon, 
"  if  we  are  to  believe  Mrs  Keswick's  letter,  have 
entirely  disappeared." 

"  It  is  quite  natural  that  they  should  do  so,"  said 
Roberta,  "  as  there  is  no  longer  any  reason  for  them. 
And  there  is  another  thing  1  want  to  impress  on 
your  mind,  Uncle  Robert,  you  must  expect  no  re 
sult  from  this  visit  except  a  renewal  of  amity  be 
tween  yourself  and  Mrs  Keswick." 

"  I  understand  it  perfectly,"  said  the  old  gentle 
man,  feeling  quite  confident  that  if  his  family  and 
Mrs  Keswick  should  once  again  become  friendly, 
the  main  object  of  his  desires  would  not  be  difficult 
of  accomplishment.  "  And  now,  my  dear,  I  will  not 
detain  you  any  longer.  I  hope  you  may  have  a  very 
pleasant  visit,  and  I  advise  you  to  cultivate  that 
young  Mrs  Null,  whom  I  take  to  be  a  very  sensible 
and  charming  person."  And  then  he  kissed  her 
good-bye  and  shut  the  carriage  door. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  when 


1 84,  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Sam  drove  through  the  outer  Keswick  gate,  and 
Peggy,  who  had  jumped  down  to  open  said  gate, 
had  made  herself  positively  sure  that,  at  present, 
there  was  no  ghost  sitting  upon  the  post.  Before 
she  reached  the  house,  Roberta  began  to  wonder 
a  good  deal  if  she  should  find  Mrs  Keswick  the 
woman  she  had  pictured  in  her  mind.  But  when 
the  carnage  drew  up  in  front  of  the  porch  there 
came  out  to  meet  her,  not  the  mistress  of  the  es 
tate,  but  a  much  younger  lady,  who  tripped  down 
the  steps  and  reached  Roberta  as  she  descended 
from  the  carriage. 

"  We  are  very  glad  to  see  you,  Miss  March,"  she 
said. '  "  My  aunt  is  not  here  just  now,  but  will  be 
back  directly." 

"This  is  Mrs  Null,  isn't  it  ?"  said  Roberta,  and 
as  the  other  smiled  and  answered  with  a  slight  flush 
that  it  was,  Roberta  stooped  just  the  little  that  was 
necessary,  and  kissed  her.  Mrs  Keswick's  niece 
had  not  expected  so  warm  a  greeting  from  this 
lady,  to  whom  she  was  almost  a  stranger,  and  in 
stantly  she  said  to  herself:  "In  that  kiss  Freddy 
dies  to  you."  For  some  days  she  had  been  turning 
over  and  over  in  her  mind  the  question  whether  or 
not  she  should  tell  Roberta  March  that  she  was  not 
Mrs  Null.  She  greatly  disliked  keeping  up  the  de 
ception  where  it  was  not  necessary,  and  with  Rob 
erta,  if  she  would  keep  the  secret,  there  was  no  need 
of  this  aerial  matrimony.  Besides  her  natural  de 
sire  to  confide  in  a  person  of  her  own  sex  and  age, 
she  did  not  wish  Mr  Croft  to  be  the  only  one  who 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  185 

shared  her  secret ;  and  so  she  had  determined  that  her 
decision  would  depend  on  what  sort  of  girl  Roberta 
proved  to  be.  "  If  I  like  her  I'll  tell  her ;  if  I  don't, 
I  won't,"  was  the  final  decision.  And  when  Roberta 
March  looked  down  upon  her  with  her  beautiful 
eyes  and  kissed  her,  Freddy  Null  departed  this  life 
so  far  as  those  two  were  concerned. 

Mrs  Keswick  had,  apparently,  made  a  very  great 
miscalculation  in  regard  to  the  probable  time  of  arrival 
of  her  guest,  for  Miss  March  and  Peggy,  and  even  Sam 
and  the  horses,  had  been  properly  received  and  cared 
for,  and  Miss  March  had  been  sitting  in  the  parlor 
for  some  time,  and  still  the  old  lady  did  not  come 
into  the  house.  Her  niece  had  grown  very  anx 
ious  about  this  absence,  and  had  begun  to  fear  that 
her  aunt  had  treated  Miss  March  as  she  had  treated 
her  on  her  arrival,  and  had  gone  away  to  stay. 
But  Plez,  whom  she  had  sent  to  tell  his  mistress 
that  her  visitor  was  in  the  house,  returned  with 
the  information  that  "  ole  miss  "  was  in  one  of  the 
lower  fields  directing  some  men  who  were  digging 
a  ditch,  and  that  she  would  return  to  the  house  in  a 
very  short  time.  Thus  assured  that  no  permanent 
absence  was  intended,  she  went  into  the  parlor  to  en 
tertain  Miss  March,  and  to  explain,  as  well  as  she 
could,  the  state  of  affairs ;  when,  as  she  entered  the 
door,  she  saw  that  lady  suddenly  arise  and  look  stead 
fastly  out  of  the  window. 

"  Can  that  be  Mr  Croft  ?  "  Miss  March  exclaimed. 

The  younger  girl  made  a  dash  forward  and  also 
looked  out  of  the  window.  Yes,  there  was  Mr  Croft, 


1 86  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

riding  across  the  yard  toward  the  tree  where  horses 
were  commonly  tied. 

"Did  you  expect  him?"  asked  Roberta,  quickly. 

"  No  more  than  I  expected  the  man  in  the  moon/' 
was  the  impulsive  and  honest  answer  of  her  compan 
ion. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you,  Mrs  Null,"  said  Law 
rence,  when  that  lady  met  him  on  the  porch.  And 
when  he  was  shown  into  the  parlor,  he  greeted  Miss 
March  with  much  cordiality,  but  no  surprise.  But 
when  he  inquired  after  other  members  of  the  family, 
he  was  much  surprised  to  find  that  Mr  Keswick 
had  gone  to  Washington.  "  Was  not  this  very  unex 
pected,  Mrs  Null?"  he  asked. 

"  Why,  no,"  she  answered.  "Junius  told  us,  al 
most  as  soon  as  he  came  here,  that  he  would  have  to 
be  in  Washington  by  the  first  of  this  week." 

Mr  Croft  did  not  pursue  this  subject  further,  but 
presently  remarked  :  "  Are  you  and  I  the  first  comers, 
Miss  March?" 

Roberta  looked  from  one  of  her  companions  to 
the  other,  and  remarked :  "  I  do  not  understand 
you." 

Lawrence  now  perceived  that  he  was  treading  a 
very  uncertain  and,  perhaps,  dangerous  path  of  con 
versation,  and  the  sooner  he  got  out  of  it  the  better ; 
but,  before  he  could  decide  what  answer  to  make,  a 
silent  and  stealthy  figure  appeared  at  the  door,  beck 
oning  and  nodding  in  a  very  mysterious  way.  This 
proved  to  be  the  plump  black  maid,  Letty,\vho,  hav 
ing  attracted  the  attention  of  the  company,  whis- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  187 

pered  loudly,  "  Miss  Annie  !  "  whereupon  that  young 
lady  immediately  left  the  room. 

"  What  other  comers  did  you  expect  ? "  then 
asked  Roberta  of  Mr  Croft. 

"  I  certainly  supposed  there  would  be  a  small 
company  here,"  he  said,  "  probably  neighborhood 
people,  but  if  I  was  mistaken,  of  course  I  don't 
wish  to  say  anything  more  about  it  to  the  family." 

"  Were  you  invited  yourself  ?  "  asked  Roberta. 

Croft  wished  very  much  that  he  could  say  that 
he  had  accidentally  dropped  in.  But  this  he  could 
not  do,  and  he  answered  that  Mrs  Keswick  asked 
him  to  come  about  this  time.  He  did  not  consider 
it  necessary  to  add  that  she  had  written  to  him  at 
the  Springs,  renewing  her  invitation  very  earnestly, 
and  mentioning  that  Miss  March  had  consented  to 
make  one  of  the  party. 

This  was  as  far  as  Roberta  saw  fit  to  continue  the 
subject,  on  the  present  occasion ;  and  she  began  to 
talk  about  the  charming  weather,  and  the  pretty 
way  in  which  the  foliage  was  reddening  on  the  side 
of  a  hill  opposite  the  window.  Mr  Croft  was  de 
lighted  to  enter  into  this  new  channel  of  speech, 
and  discussed  with  considerable  fervor  the  attract 
iveness  of  autumn  in  Virginia. 

Miss  Annie  found  Letty  in  a  very  disturbed  state 
of  mind.  The  dinner  had  been  postponed  until  the 
arrival  of  Miss  March,  and  now  it  had  been  still 
further  delayed  by  the  non-arrival  of  the  mistress 
of  the  house,  and  everything  was  becoming  dried 
up,  and  unfit  to  eat. 


1 88  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"This  will  never  do!"  exclaimed  Miss  Annie. 
"  I  will  go  myself  and  look  for  aunt.  She  must 
have  forgotten  the  time  of  day,  and  everything 
else." 

Putting  on  her  hat  she  ran  out  of  the  back  door, 
but  she  did  not  have  to  go  very  far,  for  she  iound 
the  old  lady  in  the  garden,  earnestly  regarding  a 
bed  of  turnips.  "  Where  have  you  been,  my  dear 
aunt?"  cried  the  girl.  "  Miss  March  has  been  here 
ever  so  long,  and  Mr  Croft  has  come,  and  dinner  has 
been  waiting  until  it  has  all  dried  up.  I  was  afraid 
that  you  had  forgotten  that  company  was  coming 
to-day." 

"  Forgotten ! "  said  the  old  lady,  glaring  at  the 
turnips.  "  It  isn't  an  easy  thing  to  forget.  I  in 
vited  the  girl,  and  I  expected  her  to  come,  but  I  tell 
you,  Annie,  when  I  saw  that  carriage  coming  along 
the  road,  all  the  old  feeling  came  back  to  me.  I 
remembered  what  its  owners  had  done  to  me  and 
mine,  and  what  they  are  still  trying  to  do,  and  I  felt 
I  could  not  go  into  the  house,  and  give  her  my  hand. 
It  would  be  like  taking  hold  of  a  snake." 

"A  snake!"  cried  her  niece,  with  much  warmth. 
"  She  is  a  lovely  woman !  And  her  coming  shows 
what  kindly  feelings  she  has  for  you.  But,  no  mat 
ter  what  you  think  about  it,  aunt,  you  have  asked 
her  here,  and  you  must  come  in  and  see  her.  Din 
ner  is  waiting,  and  I  don't  know  what  more  to  say 
about  your  absence." 

"  Go  in  and  have  dinner,"  said  Mrs  Keswick. 
"Don't  wait  for  me.  I'll  come  in  and  see  her 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  189 

after  a  while ;  but  I  haven't  yet  got  to  the  point  of 
sitting  down  to  the  table  and  eating  with  her." 

"Oh,  aunt !  "  exclaimed  Annie,  "you  ought  never 
to  have  asked  her  if  you  are  going  to  treat  her  in 
this  way!  And  what  am  I  to  say  to  her?  What 
excuse  am  I  to  make?  Are  you  not  sick?  Isn't 
something  the  matter  with  you  ?" 

"You  can  tell  them  I'm  flustrated,"  said  the  old 
lady,  "  and  that  is  all  that's  the  matter  with  me. 
But  I'm  not  coming  in  to  dinner,  and  there  is  no 
use  of  saying  anything  more  about  it." 

Annie  looked  at  her,  the  tears  of  mortification 
still  standing  in  her  eyes.  "  I  suppose  I  must  go 
and  do  the  best  I  can,"  she  said,  "  but,  aunt,  please 
tell  me  one  thing.  Did  you  invite  any  other  people 
here  ?  Mr  Croft  spoke  as  if  he  expected  to  see  other 
visitors,  and  if  they  ask  anything  more  about  it,  I 
don't  know  what  to  say." 

"  The  only  other  people  I  invited,"  said  the  old 
lady  with  a  grim  grin,  "  were  the  King  of  Norway, 
and  the  Prime  Minister  of  Spain,  and  neither  of 
them  could  come." 

Annie  said  no  more,  but  hurrying  back  to  the 
house,  she  ordered  dinner  to  be  served  immediately. 
At  first  the  meal  was  not  a  very  lively  one.  The 
young  hostess  pro  temporc  explained  the  absence  of 
the  mistress  of  the  house  by  stating  that  she  had  had 
a  nervous  attack — which  was  quite  true — and  that  she 
begged  them  to  excuse  her  until  after  dinner.  The 
two  guests  expressed  their  regret  at  this  unfortunate 
indisposition,  but  each  felt  a  degree  of  embarrass- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null. 


ment  at  the  absence  of  Mrs  Keswick.  Roberta,  who 
had  heard  many  stories  of  the  old  woman,  guessed 
at  the  true  reason,  and  if  the  distance  had  not  been 
so  great,  she  would  have  gone  home  that  afternoon. 
Lawrence  Croft,  of  course,  could  imagine  no  reason 
for  the  old  lady's  absence,  except  the  one  that  had 
been  given  them,  but  he  suspected  that  there  must 
be  some  other.  He  did  his  best,  however,  to  make 
pleasant  conversation  ;  and  Roberta,  who  began  to 
have  a  tender  feeling  for  the  little  lady  at  the  head 
of  the  table,  who,  she  could  easily  see,  had  been 
placed  in  an  unpleasant  position,  seconded  his  efforts 
with  such  effect  that,  when  the  little  party  had  con 
cluded  their  dinner  with  a  course  of  hot  pound  cake 
and  cream  sauce,  they  were  chatting  together  quite 
sociably. 

In  about  ten  minutes  after  they  had  all  gone  into 
the  parlor,  Miss  Annie  excused  herself,  and  pres 
ently  returned  with  a  message  to  Miss  March  that 
Mrs  Keswick  would  be  very  glad  to  see  her  in  an 
other  room.  This  was  a  very  natural  message  from 
an  elderly  lady,  who  was  not  well,  but  Roberta  arose 
and  walked  out  of  the  parlor  with  a  feeling  as  if  she 
were  about  to  enter  the  cage  of  an  erratic  tigress. 
But  she  met  with  no  such  creature.  She  saw  in  the 
back  room,  into  which  she  was  ushered,  a  small  old 
woman,  dressed  very  plainly,  who  came  forward  to 
meet  her,  extending  both  hands,  into  one  of  which 
Roberta  placed  one  of  her  own. 

"  I  may  as  well  say  at  once,  Roberta  March/'  said 
Mrs  Keswick,  "  that  the  reason  I  didn't  come  to 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  191 

meet  you  when  you  first  arrived  was,  that  I  couldn't 
get  over,  all  of  a  sudden,  the  feelings  I  have  had 
against  your  family  for  so  many  years." 

"  Why  then,  Mrs  Keswick,"  said  Roberta,  very 
coldly,  "  did  you  ask  me  to  come  ?  " 

"  Because  I  wanted  you  to  come,"  said  Mrs  Kes 
wick,  "  and  because  I  thought  I  was  stronger  than  I 
turned  out  to  be  ;  but  you  must  make  allowances 
for  the  stiffness  which  gets  into  old  people's  disposi 
tions  as  well  as  their  backs.  I  want  you  to  under 
stand,  however,  that  I  meant  all  I  said  in  that  letter, 
and  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you.  If  anything  in  my 
conduct  has  seemed  to  you  out  of  the  way,  you  must 
set  it  down  to  the  fact  that  I  was  making  a  very 
sudden  turn,  and  starting  out  on  a  new  track  in 
which  I  hope  we  shall  all  keep  for  the  rest  of  our 
lives." 

Roberta  could  not  help  thinking  that  the  sudden 
turn  in  the  new  track  began  with  the  visit  of  her 
uncle  to  this  house,  and  that  the  old  lady  need  not 
have  inflicted  upon  her  the  disagreeable  necessity 
of  witnessing  a  hostess  taking  a  very  repulsive  cold 
plunge ;  but  all  she  said  was  that  she  hoped  the 
families  would  now  live  together  in  friendly  relations; 
and  that  she  was  sure  that,  if  this  were  to  be,  it 
would  give  her  uncle  a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  She 
very  much  wanted  to  ask  Mrs  Keswick  how  Mr 
Croft  happened  to  be  here  at  this  time,  but  she  felt 
that  her  very  brief  acquaintance  with  the  lady  would 
not  warrant  the  discussion  of  a  subject  like  that. 

"  She  is  very  much  the  kind  of  woman  I  thought 


1 92  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

she  was/'  said  Roberta  to  herself,  when,  after  some 
further  hospitable  remarks  from  Mrs  Keswick,  the 
two  went  to  the  parlor  together  to  find  Mr  Croft. 
But  that  gentleman,  having  been  deserted  by  all 
the  ladies,  was  walking  up  and  down  the  greensward 
in  front  of  the  house,  smoking  a  cigar.  Mrs  Kes 
wick  went  out  to  him,  and  greeted  him  very  cor 
dially,  begging  him  to  excuse  her  for  not  being  able 
to  see  him  as  soon  as  she  came. 

Lawrence  set  all  this  aside  in  his  politest  manner, 
but  declared  himself  very  much  disappointed  in  not 
seeing  Mr  Keswick,  and  also  remarked  that  from  what 
she  had  said  to  him  on  his  last  visit  he  had  expected 
to  find  quite  a  little  party  here. 

"I  am  sorry,"  said  the  old  lady,  "  that  Junius  is 
away,  for  he  would  be  very  glad  to  see  you,  and  it 
never  came  into  my  mind  to  mention  to  you  that 
he  was  obliged  to  be  in  Washington  at  this  time. 
And,  as  for  the  party,  I  thought  afterwards  that  it 
would  be  a  great  deal  cosier  just  to  have  a  few  per 
sons  here." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "  most  certainly,  a 
great  deal  cosier." 

Mrs  Keswick  ate  supper  with  her  guests,  and 
behaved  very  well.  During  the  evening  she  sus 
tained  the  main  part  of  the  conversation,  giving 
the  company  a  great  many  anecdotes  and  reminis 
cences  of  old  times  and  old  families,  relating  them 
in  an  odd  and  peculiar  way  that  was  very  interest 
ing,  especially  to  Croft,  to  whom  the  subject  matter 
was  quite  new.  But,  although  her  three  companions 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  193 

listened  to  the  old  lady  with  deferential  attention, 
interspersed  with  appropriate  observations,  each  one 
made  her  the  object  of  severe  mental  scrutiny,  and 
endeavored  to  discover  the  present  object  of  her 
scheming  old  mind.  Roberta  was  quite  sure  that 
her  invitation  and  that  of  Mr  Croft  was  a  piece 
of  artful  management  on  the  part  of  the  old  lady, 
and  imagined,  though  she  was  not  quite  sure  about 
it,  that  it  was  intended  as  a  bit  of  match-making. 
To  get  her  married  to  somebody  else,  would  be,  of 
course,  the  best  possible  method  of  preventing  her 
marrying  Junius;  and  this,  she  had  reason  to  believe, 
was  the  prime  object  of  old  Mrs  Keswick's  exist 
ence.  But  why  should  Mr  Croft  be  chosen  as  the 
man  with  whom  she  was  to  be  thrown.  She  had 
learned  that  the  old  lady  had  seen  him  before,  but 
was  quite  certain  that  her  acquaintance  with  him  was 
slight.  Could  Junius  have  told  his  aunt  about  the 
friendship  between  herself  and  Mr  Croft  ?  It  was 
not  like  him,  but  a  great  many  unlikely  things  take 
place. 

As  for  Lawrence,  he  knew  very  well  there  was  a 
trick  beneath  his  invitation,  but  he  could  not  at  all 
make  out  why  it  had  been  played.  He  had  been 
given  an  admirable  opportunity  of  offering  himself 
to  Miss  March,  but  there  was  no  reason,  apparent 
to  him,  why  this  should  have  been  done. 

Miss   Annie,  watching   her   aunt  very   carefully, 

and  speaking  but  seldom,  quite  promptly  made  up 

her  mind  in  regard  to  the  matter.     She  knew  very 

well  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  old  woman  to  a 

13 


194  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

marriage  between  Junius  and  Miss  March ;  and  saw, 
as  plainly  as  she  saw  the  lamp  on  the  table,  that 
Roberta  had  been  brought  here  on  purpose  to  be 
sacrificed  to  Mr  Croft.  Everything  had  been  made 
ready,  the  altar  cleared,  and,  as  well  as  the  old  lady's 
grindstone  would  act,  the  knife  sharpened.  "  But," 
said  Miss  Annie  to  herself,  "  she  needn't  suppose 
that  I  am  going  to  sit  quiet  and  see  all  this  going 
on,  with  Junius  away  off  there  in  Washington, 
knowing  nothing  about  any  of  it." 

Miss  Roberta  retired  quite  early  to  her  room, 
having  been  fatigued  by  her  long  drive,  and  she  was 
just  about  to  put  out  her  light  when  she  heard  a 
little  knock  at  the  door.  Opening  it  slightly,  she 
saw  there  Junius  Keswick's  cousin,  who  also  ap 
peared  quite  ready  for  bed. 

"  May  I  come  in  for  a  minute?"  said  Annie. 

"  Certainly,"  replied  Miss  March,  admitting  her, 
and  closing  the  door  after  her. 

"  I  have  something  to  tell  you,"  said  the  younger 
lady,  admiring  as  she  spoke,  the  length  of  her  com 
panion's  braided  hair.  "  I  intended  to  keep  it 
until  to-morrow,  but  since  I  came  up  stairs  I  felt  I 
could  not  let  you  sleep  a  night  under  the  same 
roof  with  me  without  knowing  it.  I  am  not  Mrs 
Null." 

"  What ! "  exclaimed  Roberta,  in  a  tone  which 
made  Annie  lift  up  her  hands  and  implore  her  not 
to  speak  so  loud,  for  fear  that  her  aunt  should  hear 
her.  "  I  know  she  hasn't  come  up  stairs  yet,  for  she 
sits  up  dreadfully  late,  but  she  can  hear  things, 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  195 

almost  anywhere.  No,  I  am  not  Mrs  Null.  There 
is  no  such  person  as  Mr  Null,  or,  at  least,  he  is  a 
mere  gaseous  myth,  whom  I  married  for  the  sake  of 
the  protection  his  name  gave  me." 

"  This  is  the  most  extraordinary  thing  I  ever 
heard,"  said  Roberta.  "You  must  tell  me  all  about 
it." 

"  I  don't  want  to  keep  you  up,"  said  Annie,  "  you 
must  be  tired." 

"  I  am  not  tired,"  said  Roberta,  "  for  every  par 
ticle  of  fatigue  has  flown  away."  And  with  this  she 
made  Annie  sit  down  beside  her  on  the  lounge. 
"  Now  you  must  tell  me  what  this  means,"  she 
said.  "  Can  it  be  that  your  aunt  does  not  know 
about  it?" 

"  Indeed,  she  does  not,"  said  Annie.  "  I  married 
Freddy  Null  in  New  York,  for  reasons  which  we 
need  not  talk  of  now,  for  that  matter  is  all  past  and 
gone  ;  but  when  I  came  here,  I  found  almost  imme 
diately,  that  he  would  be  more  necessary  to  me  in 
this  house  than  anywhere  else." 

"  I  cannot  imagine,"  said  Roberta,  "  why  a  gaseous 
husband  should  be  necessary  to  you  here." 

"  It  is  not  a  very  easy  thing  to  explain,"  said  the 
other,  "  that  is,  it  is  easy  enough,  but — : — " 

"  Oh,"  said  Roberta,  catching  the  reason  of  her 
companion's  hesitation,  "  I  don't  think  you  ought  to 
object  to  tell  me  your  reason.  Does  it  relate  to 
your  cousin  Junius  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Annie,  "  not  altogether,  and  not  so 
much  to  him  as  to  my  aunt." 


196  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  I  think  I  see,"  said  Roberta.  "  A  marriage  be 
tween  you  two  would  suit  her  very  well.  Are 
you  afraid  that  she  would  try  to  force  him  on 
you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no ; "  said  Annie,  "  that  would  be  bad  enough, 
but  it  would  not  be  so  embarrassing,  and  so  dread 
fully  unpleasant,  as  forcing  me  on  him,  and  that  is 
what  aunt  wants  to  do.  And  you  can  easily  see 
that,  in  that  case,  I  could  not  stay  in  this  house  at 
all.  I  scarcely  know  my  cousin  as  a  man,  my  strong 
est  recollection  of  him  being  that  of  a  big  and  very 
nice  boy,  who  used  to  climb  up  in  the  apple-trees  to 
get  me  apples,  and  then  come  down  to  the  very  low 
est  branch  where  he  could  drop  the  ripest  ones 
right  into  my  apron,  and  not  bruise  them.  But, 
even  if  I  had  been  acquainted  with  him  all  these 
years,  and  liked  him  ever  so  much,  I  couldn't  stay 
here  and  have  aunt  make  him  take  me,  whether  he 
wanted  to,  or  not.  And,  unless  you  knew  my  aunt 
very  well,  you  could  not  conceive  how  unscrupu 
lously  straightforward  she  is  in  carrying  out  her 
plans." 

"  And  so,"  said  Roberta,  "  you  have  quite  baffled 
her  by  this  little  ruse  of  a  marriage." 

"  Not  altogether,"  said  Annie  with  a  smile,  "  for 
she  vows  she  is  going  to  get  me  divorced  from  Mr 
Null." 

"  That  is  funnier  than  the  rest  of  it,"  said  Roberta, 
laughing.  And  they  both  laughed  together,  but  in 
a  subdued  way,  so  as  not  to  attract  the  attention  of 
the  old  lady  below  stairs. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  197 

"  And  now,  you  see,"  said  Annie,  "  why  I  must  be 
Mrs  Null  while  I  stay  here.  And  you  will  promise 
me  that  you  will  never  tell  any  one  ?  " 

"  You  may  be  sure  I  shall  keep  your  queer  secret. 
But  have  you  not  told  it  to  any  one  but  me?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Annie,  "  but  I  have  only  told  it  to 
one  other,  Mr  Croft.  But  please  don't  speak  of  it 
to  him." 

"  Mr  Croft !  "  exclaimed  Roberta.  "  How  in  the 
world  did  you  come  to  tell  him  ?  Do  you  know  him 
so  well  as  that  ?  " 

"Well,"  said  Annie,  "it  does  seem  out  of  the 
way,  I  admit,  that  I  should  tell  him,  but  I  can't 
give  you  the  whole  story  of  how  I  came  to  do 
it.  It  wouldn't  interest  you — at  least,  it  would, 
but  I  oughtn't  to  tell  it.  It  is  a  twisty  sort  of 
thing." 

"  Twisty  ?  "  said  Roberta,  drawing  herself  up,  and 
a  little  away  from  her  companion. 

Annie  looked  up,  and  caught  the  glance  by  which 
this  word  was  accompanied,  and  the  tone  in  which 
it  was  spoken  went  straight  to  her  soul.  "  Now," 
said  she,  "  if  you  are  going  to  look  at  me,  and  speak 
in  that  way,  I'll  tell  you  every  bit  of  it."  And  she 
did  tell  the  whole  story,  from  her  first  meeting  with 
Mr  Croft  in  the  Information  Shop,  down  to  the 
present  moment. 

"  What  is  your  name,  anyway  ?  "  said  Roberta, 
when  the  story  had  been  told. 

"  My  name,"  said  the  other,  "  is  Annie  Peyton." 

"And   now,  do   you  know,   Annie   Peyton,"  said 


198  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Roberta,  passing  her  fingers  gently  among  the  short, 
light-brown  curls  on  her  companion's  forehead,  "that 
I  think  you  must  have  a  very,  very  kindly  rec 
ollection  of  the  boy  who  used  to  come  down  to  the 
lowest  branches  of  the  tree  to  drop  apples  into  your 
apron." 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

SHORTLY  after  Peggy  arrived  with  her  mistress  at 
the  Keswick  residence,  her  mind  began  to  be  a  good 
deal  disturbed.  She  had  been  surprised,  when  the 
carriage  drew  up  to  the  door,  that  "  Mahs'  Junius" 
had  not  rushed  down  to  meet  his  intended  bride,  and 
when  she  found  he  was  not  in  the  house,  and  had, 
indeed,  gone  away  from  home,  she  did  not  at  all 
know  what  to  make  of  it.  If  Miss  Rob  took  the 
trouble  to  travel  all  the  way  to  the  home  of  the  man 
that  the  Midbranch  people  had  decided  she  should 
marry,  it  was  a  very  wonderful  thing,  indeed,  that 
he  should  not  be  there  to  meet  her.  And  while 
these  thoughts  were  turning  themselves  over  in  the 
mind  of  this  meditative  girl  of  color,  and  the  out 
going  look  in  her  eyes  was  extending  itself  farther 
and  farther,  as  if  in  search  of  some  solution  of  the 
mystery,  up  rode  Mr  Croft. 

"  Dar  he  !  "  exclaimed  Peggy,  as  she  stood  at  the 
corner  of  the  house  where  she  had  been  pursuing  her 
meditations.  "  He  !  "  she  continued  in  a  voice  that 
would  have  been  quite  audible  to  any  one  standing 
near.  "  Upon  my  libin'  soul,  wot  brung  him  h'yar  ? 
Miss  Rob  don'  wan'  him  round,  nohow.  I  done 
druv  him  off  wunst.  Upon  my  libin'  soul,  he's  done 


200  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

brung  his  bag  behin'  him  on  de  saddle,  an'  I  reckon 
he's  gwine  to  stay." 

As  Mr  Croft  dismounted  and  went  into  the  house, 
Peggy  glowered  at  him  ;  sundry  expressions,  sound 
ing  very  much  like  odds  and  ends  of  imprecations 
which  she  had  picked  up  in  the  course  of  a  short  but 
investigative  existence,  gurgling  from  her  lips. 

"  I  wish  dat  ole  Miss  Keswick  kunjer  him.  Ef 
she  knew  how  Miss  Rob  hate  him,  she  curl  he  legs 
up,  an'  gib  him  mis'ry  spranglin'  down  he  back." 

The  hope  of  seeing  this  intruder  well  "  kunjered  " 
by  the  old  lady  was  the  only  thing  that  gave  a  prom 
ise  of  peace  to  the  mind  of  Peggy ;  and  though  her 
nature  was  by  no  means  a  social  one,  she  determined 
to  make  the  acquaintance  of  some  one  or  other  in 
the  house  ;  hoping  to  find  out  how  Mrs  Keswick 
conducted  her  conjurations ;  at  what  time  of  day  or 
night  they  were  generally  put  into  operation  ;  and 
how  persons  could  be  brought  under  their  influence. 

The  breakfast  hour  in  the  Keswick  house  was  a 
variable  one.  Sometimes  the  mistress  of  the  estab 
lishment  rose  early  and  wanted  her  morning  meal 
before  she  v/ent  out  of  doors ;  at  other  times  she 
would  go  off  to  some  distant  point  on  the  farm  to 
see  about  something  that  was  doing  or  ought  to  be 
done,  and  breakfast  would  be  kept  waiting  for  her. 
The  delays,  however,  were  not  all  due  to  the  old 
lady's  irregular  habits.  Very  often  Letty  would 
come  up  stairs  with  the  information  that  the  "  bread 
ain't  riz  ; "  and  as  a  Virginia  breakfast  without  hot 
bread  would  be  an  impossibility,  the  meal  would  be 


The  Late  Mrs  AW/.  201 

postponed  until  the  bread  did  conclude  to  rise,  or 
until  some  substitute,  such  as  "  beaten  biscuit  "  had 
been  provided. 

On  the  morning  after  his  arrival,  Lawrence  Croft 
came  down  stairs  about  eight  o'clock,  and  found  the 
lower  part  of  the  house  deserted ;  and  glancing  into 
the  dining-room  as  he  passed  its  open  door,  he  saw 
no  signs  of  breakfast.  The  house  was  cool,  but  the 
sun  appeared  to  be  shining  warmly  outside,  and  he 
stepped  out  of  the  open  back  door  into  a  small 
flower  garden,  with  a  series  of  broad  boards  down 
the  walk  which  lay  along  the  middle  of  it.  Up  and 
down  this  board  walk  Lawrence  strode,  breathing  the 
fresh  air,  and  thinking  over  matters.  He  was  not  at 
all  satisfied  at  being  here  during  Keswick's  absence, 
feeling  that  he  was  enjoying  an  advantage  which, 
although  it  was  quite  honorable,  did  not  appear  so. 
What  he  had  to  do  was  to  get  an  interview  with 
Miss  March  as  soon  as  possible,  and  have  that  matter 
over.  When  he  had  been  definitely  accepted  or  re 
jected,  he  would  go  away.  And,  whatever  the  result 
might  be,  he  would  write  to  his  rival  as  soon  as  he 
returned  to  the  Springs,  and  inform  him  of  it,  and 
would  also  explain  how  he  had  happened  to  be  here 
with  Miss  March.  While  he  was  engaged  in  planning 
these  honorable  intentions,  there  came  from  the 
house  Mrs  Keswick's  niece,  with  a  basket  in  one 
hand,  and  a  pair  of  scissors  in  the  other,  and  she  im 
mediately  applied  herself  to  cutting  some  geraniums 
and  chrysanthemums,  which  were  about  the  last 
flowers  left  blooming  at  that  season  in  the  garden. 


202  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"Good  morning,"  said  Croft,  from  the  other  end 
of  the  walk.  "  I  am  glad  to  see  you  out  so  early." 

"  Good  morning,"  she  replied,  with  a  look  which 
indicated  that  she  was  not  at  all  glad  to  see  him, 
"  but  I  don't  think  it  is  early." 

Croft  had  noticed  on  the  preceding  day  that  her 
coolness  towards  him  still  continued,  but  it  did  not 
suit  him  to  let  her  know  that  he  perceived  it.  He 
went  up  to  her,  and  in  a  very  friendly  way  remarked  : 
"  There  is  something  I  wish  very  much  you  would 
tell  me.  What  is  your  name  ?  It  is  very  odd  that 
during  all  the  time  I  have  been  acquainted  with  you 
I  have  never  known  your  name." 

"  You  must  have  taken  an  immense  interest  in 
it,"  she  said,  as  she  snipped  some  dried  leaves  off  a 
twig  of  geranium  she  had  cut. 

"  It  was  not  that  I  did  not  take  any  interest,"  said 
Croft,  "  but  at  first  your  name  never  came  forward, 
and  I  soon  began  to  know  you  by  the  title  which 
your  remarkable  condition  of  wedlock  gave  you." 

"  And  that  is  the  name,"  said  the  lady,  very  de 
cidedly,  "  by  which  I  am  to  be  known  in  this  house. 
I  am  very  proud  of  my  maiden  name,  but  I  am  not 
going  to  tell  it  to  you  for  fear  that  some  time  you 
will  use  it." 

"Oh!"  ejaculated  Mr  Croft."  "Then  I  suppose 
I  am  to  continue  even  to  think  of  you  as  Mrs  Null." 

"You  needn't  think  of  me  at  all,"  said  she,  "but 
when  you  speak  to  me  I  most  certainly  expect  you 
to  use  that  name.  It  was  only  by  a  sort  of  accident 
that  you  came  to  know  it  was  not  my  name." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  203 

"I  don't  consider  it  an  accident  at  all,"  said 
Croft.  "  I  look  upon  it  as  a  piece  of  very  kindly 
confidence." 

Miss  Annie  gave  a  little  twist  to  her  mouth,  which 
seemed  to  indicate  that  if  she  spoke  she  should  ex 
press  her  contempt  of  such  an  opinion,  and  Croft 
continued : 

"  I  am  very  sorry  that  upon  that  occasion  I  should 
have  felt  myself  obliged  to  refuse  your  request  that 
I  should  make  you  acquainted  with  my  reasons  for 
desiring  to  know  Mr  Keswick's  whereabouts.  But 
I  am  sure,  if  you  understood  the  matter,  you  would 
not  be  in  the  least  degree " 

"  Oh,  you  need  not  trouble  yourself  about  that," 
she  interrupted.  u  I  don't  want  you  to  tell  me  any 
thing  at  all.  It  is  quite  easy,  now,  to  see  why  you 
wished  to  know  where  my  cousin  was." 

"  It  is  impossible  that  you  should  know ! "  ex 
claimed  Croft. 

"  We  will  say  no  more  about  it,"  replied  Annie. 
"  I  am  quite  satisfied." 

"  I  would  give  a  good  deal,"  said  Lawrence,  after 
looking  steadily  at  her  for  a  few  moments,  "  to  know 
what  you  really  do  think." 

Annie  had  cut  all  the  flowers  she  wanted,  or, 
rather,  all  she  could  get  ;  and  she  now  stood  up  and 
looked  her  companion  full  in  the  face.  "  Mr  Croft," 
she  said,  "  it  has  been  necessary,  and  it  is  necessary 
now  for  me  to  have  some  concealments,  and  I  am 
sorry  for  it ;  but  it  isn't  at  all  necessary  for  me  to 
conceal  my  opinion  of  your  reasons  for  wanting  to 


204  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

know  about  Junius.  You  were  really  in  pursuit  of 
Miss  March,  and  knowing  that  he  was  in  love  with 
her,  you  wanted  to  make  sure  that  when  you  went 
to  her,  he  wouldn't  be  there.  It  is  my  firm  opinion 
that  is  all  there  is  about  it ;  and  the  fact  of  your 
turning  up  here  just  after  my  cousin  left,  proves  it." 

"  Miss  Annie,"  exclaimed  Croft — "  I  have  heard 
you  called  by  that  name,  and  I  vow  I  won't  call  you 
Mrs  Null,  when  there  is  no  need  for  it — you  were 
never  more  mistaken  in  your  life,  and  I  am  very 
sorry  that  you  should  have  such  a  low  opinion  of 
me  as  to  think  I  would  wish  to  take  advantage  of 
your  cousin  during  his  absence." 

"  Then  why  do  you  do  it?"  asked  Miss  Annie, 
with  a  little  upward  pitch  of  her  chin. 

At  this  moment  the  breakfast-bell  rang,  and  Mrs 
Keswick  appeared  in  the  back  door,  evidently  some 
what  surprised  to  see  these  two  conversing  in  the 
garden. 

"  I  am  very  much  vexed,"  said  Lawrence,  as  he 
followed  his  companion,  who  had  suddenly  turned 
towards  the  house,  u  that  you  should  think  of  me  in 
this  way." 

But  to  this  remark  Miss  Annie  had  no  opportunity 
to  reply. 

After  breakfast,  Mrs  Keswick  proved  the  truth  of 
what  her  niece  had  said  about  her  unscrupulous 
straightforwardness  when  carrying  out  her  projects. 
She  had  invited  Mr  Croft  and  Miss  March  to  her 
house  in  order  that  the  former  might  have  the  oppor 
tunity  which  she  had  discovered  he  wanted  and 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  205 

could  not  get,  of  offering  himself  in  marriage  to  the 
lady ;  and  she  now  made  it  her  business  to  see  that 
Mr  Croft's  opportunity  should  stand  up  very  clear 
and  definite  before  him ;  and  that  all  interfering 
circumstances  should  be  carefully  removed.  She 
informed  her  niece  that  she  wished  her  to  go  with 
her  to  a  thicket  on  the  other  side  of  the  wheat 
field  which  that  young  lady  had  advised  should  be 
ploughed  for  pickles,  to  look  for  a  turkey-hen  which 
she  had  reason  to  believe  had  been  ridiculous  enough 
to  hatch  out  a  brood  of  young  at  this  improper 
season.  Annie  demurred,  for  she  did  not  want  to  go 
to  look  for  turkeys,  nor  did  she  want  to  give  Mr  Croft 
any  opportunities ;  but  the  old  lady  insisted,  and 
carried  her  off.  Croft  felt  that  there  was  some 
thing  very  bare  and  raw-boned  about  the  position 
in  which  he  was  left  with  Miss  March ;  and  he 
thought  that  lady  might  readily  suppose  that  Mrs 
Kcswick's  object  was  to  leave  them  together.  He 
imagined  that,  himself,  though  why  she  should  be  so 
kind  to  him  he  could  not  feel  quite  certain.  How 
ever,  his  path  lay  straight  before  him,  and  if  the  old 
lady  had  whitewashed  it  to  make  it  more  distinct, 
he  did  not  intend  to  refuse  to  walk  in  it. 

"  I  have  been  looking  at  that  hill  over  yonder," 
said  he,  "  with  a  cluster  of  pine  trees  on  the  brow  of 
it.  I  should  think  there  would  be  a  fine  view  from 
that  hill.  Would  you  not  like  to  walk  up  there  ?  " 

Lawrence  felt  that  this  proposition  was  quite  in 
keeping  with  the  bareness  of  the  previous  proceed 
ings,  but  he  did  not  wish  to  stay  in  the  house  and 


206  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

be  subject  to  the  unexpected  return  of  the  old  lady 
and  her  niece. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Miss  March  ;  "  nothing  would 
please  me  better."  And  so  they  walked  up  Pine 
Top  Hill. 

When  they  reached  this  elevated  position,  they 
sat  down  on  the  rock  on  which  Mrs  Null  had  once 
conversed  with  Freddy,  and  admired  the  view,  which 
was,  indeed,  a  very  fine  one.  After  about  five  min 
utes  of  this,  which  Lawrence  thought  was  quite 
enough,  he  turned  to  his  companion  and  said : 

"  Miss  March,  I  do  not  wish  you  to  suppose  that  I 
brought  you  up  here  for  the  purpose  of  viewing 
those  rolling  hills  and  distant  forests." 

"You  didn't ?"  exclaimed  Roberta,  in  a  tone  of 
surprise. 

"  No,"  said  he ;  "I  brought  you  here  because  it  is 
a  place  where  I  could  speak  freely  to  you,  and  tell 
you  I  love  you." 

"That  was  not  at  all  necessary,"  said  Miss  March. 
"  We  had  the  lower  floor  of  the  house  entirely  to 
ourselves,  and  I  am  sure  that  Mrs.  Keswick  would 
not  have  returned  until  you  had  waved  a  handker 
chief,  or  given  some  signal  from  the  back  of  the  house 
that  it  was  all  over." 

Croft  looked  at  her  with  a  troubled  expression. 
"Miss  March,"  said  he,  "do  you  not  think  I  am  in 
earnest?  Do  you  not  believe  what  I  have  said?  " 

"  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  you  are  in  ear 
nest,"  she  answered.  "  The  magnitude  of  the  prepa 
ration  proves  it." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  207 

"  I  am  glad  you  said  that,  for  it  gives  me  the  op 
portunity  for  making  an  explanation,"  said  Law 
rence.  "  Our  meeting  at  this  place  may  be  a  care 
fully  contrived  stratagem,  but  it  was  not  contrived 
by  me.  I  am  very  well  aware  that  Mr  Keswick  also 
wishes  to  marry  you — " 

"  Did  you  see  that  in  the  Richmond  DispatcJi  or 
in  one  of  the  New  York  papers?"  interrupted  Miss 
March. 

"  That  is  a  point,"  said  Lawrence,  overlooking 
the  ridicule,  "  which  we  need  not  discuss.  I  am 
perfectly  aware  that  Mr  Keswick  is  my  rival,  but 
I  wish  you  to  understand  that  I  am  not  volun 
tarily  taking  any  undue  advantage  of  his  ab 
sence.  I  believe  him  to  be  a  very  fair  and  generous 
man,  and  I  would  wish  to  be  as  open  and  gene 
rous  as  he  is.  When  I  came,  I  expected  to  find  him 
here,  and,  standing  on  equal  ground  with  him,  I 
intended  to  ask  you  to  accept  my  love." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Roberta,  "  would  it  not  be  more 
fair  and  generous  for  you  to  go  away  now,  and  post 
pone  this  proposal  until  some  time  when  you  would 
each  have  an  equal  chance  ?  " 

"  No,  it  would  not,"  said  Lawrence,  vehemently. 
"  I  have  now  an  opportunity  of  telling  you  that  I 
love  you  ardently,  passionately ;  and  nothing  shall 
cause  me  to  postpone  it.  Will  you  not  consider  what 
I  say  ?  Will  you  make  no  answer  to  this  declaration 
of  most  true  and  honest  love?" 

"  I  am  considering  wltet  you  have  said,"  she  an 
swered  ;  "  and  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  you  did 


208  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

not  know  of  this  cunning  little  trap  that  Mrs  Kcs- 
wick  has  laid  for  me.  It  is  all  very  plain  to  me,  but 
I  do  not  know  why  she  should  have  selected  you  as 
one  of  the  actors  in  the  plot.  Have  you  ever  told 
her  that  you  are  a  suitor  for  my  hand?" 

"  Never  !  "  exclaimed  Lawrence.  "  She  may  have 
imagined  it,  for  she  heard  I  was  a  frequent  visitor  to 
Midbranch.  But  let  us  set  all  that  aside.  I  am  on 
fire  with  love  for  you.  Will  you  tell  me  that  you 
can  return  that  love,  or  that  I  must  give  up  all 
hope?  This  is  the  most  important  question  of  my 
whole  life.  I  beg  you,  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart, 
to  decide  it." 

"  Mr  Croft,"  said  she,  "  when  you  used  to  come, 
nearly  every  day,  to  see  me  at  Midbranch,  and  we 
took  .those  long  walks  in  the  woods,  you  never 
talked  in  this  way.  I  considered  you  as  a  gentleman 
whose  prudence  and  good  sense  would  not  allow  him 
to  step  outside  of  the  path  of  perfectly  conventional 
social  intercourse.  This  is  not  conventional  and  not 
prudent." 

"  I  loved  you  then,  and  I  love  you  now  ;"exclaimed 
Lawrence.  "You  must  have  known  that  I  loved 
you,  for  my  declaration  does  not  in  the  least  sur 
prise  you." 

"  Once — it  was  the  last  time  you  visited  Midbranch 
— I  suspected,  just  a  little,  that  your  mind  might  be 
affected  somewhat  in  the  way  you  speak  of,  but 
I  supposed  that  attack  of  weakness  had  passed 
away." 

"  I  know  what  you  mean,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  209 

I  can't  endure  to  talk  of  such  trifles.  I  love  you, 
Roberta " 

u  Miss  March,"  she  interrupted. 

"  And  I  want  you  to  tell  me  if  you  love  me  in  re 
turn." 

Miss  March  rose  from  the  rock  where  she  had 
been  sitting,  and  her  companion  rose  with  her. 
After  a  moment's  silence,  during  which  he 
watched  her  with  intense  eagerness,  she  said  :  "  Mr 
Croft,  I  am  going  to  give  you  your  choice.  Would 
you  prefer  being  refused  under  a  cherry  tree,  or 
under  a  sycamore  ?  " 

There  was  a  little  smile  on  her  lips  as  she  said 
this,  which  Lawrence  could  not  interpret. 

"  I  decline  being  refused  under  any  tree,"  he  said 
with  vehemence. 

"  I  prefer  the  cherry  tree,"  said  she,  "  there  is  a 
very  pretty  one  over  there  on  the  ridge  of  this  hill, 
and  its  leaves  are  nearly  all  gone,  which  would 
make  it  quite  appropriate — but  what  is  the  mean 
ing  of  this?  There  comes  Peggy.  It  isn't  possible 
that  she  thinks  it's  time  for  me  to  give  out  some 
thing  to  Aunt  Judy." 

Croft  turned,  and  there  was  the  wooden  Peggy, 
marching  steadily  up  the  hill,  and  almost  upon 
them. 

"  What  do  you  want,  Peggy  ?  "  asked  Miss  Ro 
berta. 

"  Dar's  a  man  down  to  de  house  dat  wants  him," 
pointing  to  Mr  Croft. 

Lawrence  was  very  much  surprised.  "  A  man 
14 


210  The  Late  Mrs  AW/. 

who  wants  me ! "  he  exclaimed.       "  You  must  be 
mistaken." 

"  No  sah,"  replied  Peggy,  "you's  de  one." 
For  a  moment  Lawrence  hesitated.  His  disposi 
tion  was  to  let  any  man  in  the  world,  be  he  presi 
dent  or  king,  wait  until  he  had  settled  this  matter 
with  Miss  March.  But  with  Peggy  present  it  was 
impossible  to  go  on  with  the  love-making.  He 
might,  indeed,  send  her  back  with  a  message,  but 
the  thought  came  to  him  that  it  would  be  well  to 
postpone  for  a  little  the  pressing  of  his  suit,  for  the 
lady  was  certainly  in  a  very  untoward  humor,  and 
he  was  not  altogether  sorry  to  have  an  excuse  for 
breaking  off  the  interview  at  this  point.  He  had  not 
yet  been  discarded,  and  he  would  like  to  think  over 
the  matter,  and  see  if  he  could  discover  any  reason 
for  the  very  disrespectful  manner,  to  say  the  least 
of  it,  with  which  Miss  March  had  received  his  ama 
tory  advances.  "  I  suppose  I  must  go  and  see  the 
man,"  he  said,  "  though  I  can't  imagine  who  it  can 
possibly  be.  Will  you  return  to  the  house?" 

"  No,"  said    Miss   Roberta,    "  I  will   stay  here   a 
little  longer,  and  enjoy  the  view." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

As  Lawrence  Croft  walked  down  Pine  Top  Hill 
his  mind  was  in  a  good  deal  of  a  hubbub.  The  mind 
of  almost  any  lover  would  be  stirred  up  if  he  came 
fresh  from  an  interview,  in  which  his  lady  had 
pinned  him,  to  use  a  cruel  figure,  in  various  places  on 
the  wall  to  see  how  he  would  spin  and  buzz  in  differ 
ent  lights.  But  the  disdainful  pin  had  not  yet  gone 
through  a  vital  part  of  Lawrence's  hopes,  and  they 
had  strength  to  spin  and  buzz  a  good  deal  yet.  As 
soon  as  he  should  have  an  opportunity  he  would  rack 
his  brains  to  find  out  what  it  was  that  had  put  Ro 
berta  March  into  such  a  strange  humor.  No  one  who 
simply  desired  to  decline  the  addresses  of  a  gentle 
man  would  treat  her  lover  as  Miss  March  had  treated 
him.  It  was  quite  evident  that  she  wished  to  punish 
him.  But  what  had  been  his  crime  ? 

But  the  immediate  business  on  his  hands  was  to 
go  and  see  what  man  it  was  who  wished  to  see  him. 
Ordinarily  the  fact  that  a  man  had  called  upon  him 
would  not  be  considered  by  Lawrence  a  matter  for 
cogitation,  but  as  he  walked  toward  the  house  it 
seemed  to  him  very  odd  that  any  one  should  call 
upon  him  in  such  an  out-of-the-way  place  as  this, 
where  so  few  people  knew  him  to  be.  He  was  not 
a  business  man/but  a  large  portion  of  his  funds 


212  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

were  invested  in  a  business  concern,  and  it  might  be 
that  something  had  gone  wrong,  and  that  a  message 
had  been  sent  him.  His  address  at  the  Green  Sul 
phur  Springs  was  known,  and  the  man  in  charge 
there  knew  that  he  was  visiting  Mrs  Keswick. 

These  considerations  made  him  a  little  anxious, 
and  helped  to  keep  his  mind  in  the  hubbub  which 
has  been  mentioned. 

When  he  reached  the  front  of  the  house,  Law 
rence  saw  a  lean,  gray  horse  tied  to  a  tree,  and  a 
man  sitting  upon  the  porch  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  made 
his  appearance  the  latter  came  down  the  steps  to 
meet  him. 

"  I  didn't  go  into  the  house,  sir,"  he  said,  "  because 
I  thought  you'd  just  as  lief  have  a  talk  outside." 

"  What  is  your  business  ?  "  asked  Croft. 

The  man  moved  a  few  steps  farther  from  the 
house,  and  Lawrence  followed  him. 

"  Is  it  anything  secret  you  have  to  tell  me?"  he 
asked. 

"  Well,  yes,  sir,  I  should  think  it  was,"  replied  the 
other,  a  tall  man,  with  sandy  hair  and  beard,  and 
dressed  in  a  checkered  business  suit,  which  had  lost 
a  good  deal  of  the  freshness  of  its  early  youth.  "  I 
may  as  well  tell  you  at  "once  who  I  am.  I  am  an 
anti-detective.  Never  heard  of  that  sort  of  person, 
I  suppose  ?  " 

"  Never,"  said  Lawrence,  curtly. 

"  Well,  sir,  the  organization  which  I  belong  to  is 
one  which  is  filling  a  long  felt  want.  You  know 
very  well,  sir,  that  this  country  is  full  of  detective 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  213 

officers,  not  only  those  who  belong  to  a  regular  po 
lice  force,  but  lots  of  private  ones,  who,  if  anybody 
will  pay  them  for  it,  will  go  to  Jericho  to  hunt  a 
man  up.  Now,  sir,  our  object  is  to  protect  society 
against  these  people.  When  we  get  information 
that  a  man  is  going  to  be  hounded  down  by  any  of 
these  detectives — and  we  have  private  ways  of  know 
ing  these  things — we  just  go  to  that  man,  and  if  he 
is  willing  to  become  one  of  our  clients,  we  take  him 
into  our  charge  ;  and  our  business,  after  that,  is  to 
keep  him  informed  of  just  what  is  being  done  against 
him.  He  can  stay  at  home  in  comfort  with  his 
wife,  settle  up  his  accounts,  and  do  what  he  likes,  and 
the  day  before  he  is  to  be  swooped  down  on,  he  gets 
notice  from  us,  and  comfortably  goes  to  Chicago,  or 
Jacksonville,  where  he  can  take  his  ease  until  we 
post  him  of  the  next  move  of  the  enemy.  If  he 
wants  to  take  extra  precautions,  and  writes  a  letter 
to  anybody  in  the  place  where  he  lives,  dated  from 
London  or  Hong  Kong,  and  sends  that  letter  under 
cover  to  us,  we'll  see  that  it  is  mailed  from  the  place 
it  is  dated  from,  and  that  it  gets  into  the  hands  of 
the  detectives.  There  have  been  cases  where  a  gen 
tleman  has  had  six  months  or  a  year  of  perfect  com 
fort,  by  the  detectives  being  thrown  off  by  a  letter 
like  this.  That  is  only  one  of  the  ways  in  which 
we  help  and  protect  persons  in  difficulties  who,  if 
it  wasn't  for  us,  would  be  dragged  off,  hand-cuffed, 
from  the  bosom  of  their  families  ;  and  who,  even  if 
they  never  got  convicted,  would  have  to  pay  a  lot  of 
money  to  get  out  of  the  scrape.  Now,  I  have  put 


214  The  Late  Mrs  Nidi. 

myself  a  good  deal  out  of  the  way,  sir,  to  come  to 
you,  and  offer  you  our  assistance." 

*'  Me  !  "  exclaimed  Croft.  "  What  are  you  talking 
about  ?  " 

The  man  smiled.  "  Of  course,  it's  all  right  to 
know  nothing  about  it,  and  it's  just  what  we  would 
advise  ;  but  I  assure  you  we  are  thoroughly  posted 
in  your  affair,  and  to  let  you  know  that  we  are,  I'll 
just  mention  that  the  case  is  that  of  Croft  after 
Keswick,  through  Candy." 

"  Stuff  and  nonsense  !  "  exclaimed  Lawrence,  get 
ting  red  in  the  face.  "  There  is  no  such  case  ! " 

He  was  about  to  say  more,  when  a  few  words 
from  the  anti-detective  stopped  him  suddenly. 

"  Look  here,  Mr  Keswick,"  said  the  man,  leveling 
a  long  fore-finger  at  him,  and  speaking  very  earn 
estly,  "  don't  you  go  and  flatter  yourself  that  this 
thing  has  been  dropped,  because  you  haven't  heard 
of  it  for  a  month  or  two  ;  and  if  you'll  take  my  ad 
vice,  you'll  make  up  your  mind  on  the  spot,  either 
to  let  things  go  on  and  be  nabbed,  or  to  put  your 
self  under  our  protection,  and  live  in  entire  safety 
until  this  thing  has  blown  over,  without  any  trouble, 
except  a  little  travelling." 

At  the  mention  of  Keswick's  name,  Lawrence  had 
seen  through  the  whole  affair  at  a  single  mental 
glance.  The  man  was  after  Junius  Keswick,  and  his 
business  was  to  Lawrence  more  startling  and  repug 
nant  than  it  could  possibly  be  to  any  one  else.  It 
was  necessary  to  be  very  careful.  If  he  immediately 
avowed  who  he  was,  the  man  might  yet  find  Kes- 


The  Late  Mrs  Nidi.  215 

rack,  before  warning  and  explanation  could  be  got 
to  him,  and  not  only  put  that  gentleman  in  a  very 
unpleasant  state  of  mind,  but  do  a  lot  of  mischief 
besides.  He  did  not  believe  that  Mr  Candy  had  re 
commenced  his  investigations  without  consultation 
with  him,  but  this  person  evidently  knew  that  such 
an  investigation  had  been  set  on  foot,  and  that  would 
be  sufficient  for  his  purposes.  Lawrence  decided 
to  be  very  wary,  and  he  said  to  the  man,  "  Did  you 
ask  for  me  here  by  name  ?  " 

"  No,  sir"  said  the  other,  "  I  had  information  that 
you  were  here,  and  that  you  were  the  only  gentle 
man  who  lived  here  and  although  you  are  in  your  own 
home,  I  did  not  know  but  this  was  one  of  those  cases 
in  which  names  were  dropped  and  servants  changed, 
to  suit  an  emergency.  I  asked  the  little  darkey  I 
saw  at  the  front  of  the  house  if  she  lived  here,  and 
she  told  me  she  had  only  just  come.  That  put  me  on 
my  guard,  and  so  I  merely  asked  if  the  gentleman 
was  in,  and  she  went  and  got  you.  We're  very  care 
ful  about  calling  names,  and  you  needn't  be  afraid 
that  any  of  our  people  will  ever  give  you  away  on 
that  line." 

Lawrence  reflected  for  a  moment,  and  then  he 
said  :  "  What  are  your  terms  and  arrangements  for 
carrying  on  an  affair  of  this  kind?  " 

"  They  are  very  simple  and  moderate,"  said  the 
man,  taking  a  wallet  from  his  pocket.  "  There  is  one 
of  our  printed  slips,  which  we  show  but  don't  give 
away.  Tc  become  a  client  all  you  have  to  do  is  to 
send  fifteen  dollars  to  the  office,  or  to  pay  it  to  me, 


2i6  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

if  you  think  no  time  should  be  lost.  That  will  en 
title  you  to  protection  for  a  year.  After  that  we 
make  the  nominal  charge  of  five  dollars  for  each  let 
ter  sent  you,  giving  you  information  of  what  is 
going  on  against  you.  For  extra  services,  such  as 
mailing  letters  from  distant  points,  of  course  there 
will  be  extra  charges." 

Lawrence  glanced  over  the  printed  slip,  which  con 
tained  information  very  similar  to  that  the  man  had 
given  him,  and  as  he  did  so,  he  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  there  would  be  nothing  dishonest  in  allowing 
the  fellow  to  continue  in  his  mistake,  and  to  en 
deavor  to  find  out  what  mischief  was  about  to  be 
done  in  his,  Lawrence's,  name,  and  under  his  appar 
ent  authority.  "  I  will  become  a  subscriber,"  said  he, 
taking  out  his  pocketbook,  "  and  request  that  you 
give  me  all  the  information  you  possess,  here  and 
immediately." 

"  That  is  the  best  thing  to  do,"  said  the  man, 
taking  the  money,  "  for,  in  my  opinion,  no  time  is 
to  be  lost.  I'll  give  you  a  receipt  for  this." 

"  Don't  trouble  yourself  about  that,"  said  Law 
rence  ;  "  let  me  have  your  information." 

u  You're  very  right,"  said  the  man.  "  It's  a  great 
deal  better  not  to  have  your  name  on  anything. 
And  now  for  the  points.  Candy,  who  has  charge  of 
Croft's  job,  is  going  more  into  the  detective  busi 
ness  than  he  used  to  be,  and  we  have  information 
that  he  has  lately  taken  up  your  affair  in  good,  solid 
earnest.  He  found  out  that  Croft  had  put  some 
body  else  on  your  track,  without  regularly  taking 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  217 

the  business  out  of  his  hands,  and  this  made  him 
mad  ;  and  I  don't  wonder  at  it,  for  Croft,  as  I  under 
stand,  has  plenty  of  money,  and  if  he  concluded  to 
throw  Candy  over,  he  ought  to  have  done  it  fair 
and  square,  and  paid  him  something  handsome  in 
consideration  for  having  taken  the  job  away.  But 
he  didn't  do  anything  of  the  kind,  and  Candy  con 
siders  himself  still  in  his  employment,  and  vows  he's 
going  to  get  hold  of  you  before  the  other  party 
does ;  so,  you  see,  you  have  got  two  sets  of  detec 
tives  after  you,  and  they'll  be  mighty  sharp,  for  the 
first  one  that  gets  you  will  make  the  money." 

"  Where  are  Candy's  detectives  now  ? "  asked 
Lawrence. 

"  That  I  can't  tell  you  positively,  as  I  am  so  far 
from  our  New  York  office,  to  which  all  information 
comes.  But  now  that  you  are  a  subscriber,  I'll 
communicate  with  head-quarters  and  the  necessary 
points  will  be  immediately  sent  to  you  by  telegraph, 
if  necessary.  All  that  you  have  to  do  is  to  stay  here 
until  you  hear  from  us." 

"  From  the  way  you  spoke  just  now,"  said  Law 
rence,  "  I  supposed  the  detective  would  be  here  to 
day  or  to-morrow." 

"  Oh  no,"  said  the  other,"  Candy  has  not  the  facil 
ities  for  finding  people  that  we  have.  But  it  takes 
some  time  for  me  to  communicate  with  head-quarters 
and  for  you  to  hear  from  there  ;  and  so,  as  I  said 
before,  there  isn't  an  hour  to  be  lost.  But  you're  all 
right  now." 

"  I  expected  you  to  give   me  more  definite  infor- 


218  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

mation  than  this,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but  now,  I  sup 
pose,  I  must  wait  until  I  hear  from  New  York,  at 
five  dollars  a  message." 

"  My  business  is  to  enlist  subscribers,"  said  the 
other.  uYou  couldn't  expect  me  to  tell  you  any 
thing  definite  when  I  am  in  an  out-of-the-way  place 
like  this." 

"  Did  you  come  down  to  Virginia  on  purpose  to 
find  me?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"  No,"  said  the  man,  "  I  am  on  my  way  to  Mobile, 
and  I  only  lose  one  train  by  stopping  here  to  attend 
to  your  business." 

"  How  did  you  know  I  was  here  ?  " 

"Ah,"  said  the  anti-detective,  with  a  smile,  "  as  I 
told  you,  we  have  facilities.  I  knew  you  were  at 
this  house,  and  I  came  here,  straight  as  a  die." 

"  It  is  truly  wonderful,"  said  Lawrence,  "  how  ac 
curate  your  information  is.  And  now  I  will  tell  you 
something  you  can  have,  gratis.  You  have  made 
one  of  the  most  stupid  blunders  that  I  ever  heard 
of.  Mr  Keswick  went  away  from  here,  nearly  a  week 
ago,  and  I  am  the  Mr  Croft  whom  you  supposed  to 
be  in  pursuit  of  him." 

The  man  started,  and  gave  vent  to  an  unpleasant 
ejaculation. 

"  To  prove  it,"  said  Lawrence,  "  there  is  my  card, 
and,"  putting  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  "  here  are 
several  letters  addressed  to  me.  And  I  want  to 
let  you  know  that  I  am  not  in  pursuit  of  Mr  Kes 
wick  ;  that  he  and  I  are  very  good  friends ;  and  that 
I  have  frequently  seen  him  of  late ;  and  so  you  can 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  219 

just  drop  this  business  at  once.  And  as  for  Candy, 
he  has  no  right  to  take  a  single  step  for  which  I  have 
not  authorized  him.  I  merely  employed  him  to  get 
Mr  Keswick's  address,  which  I  wished  for  a  very 
friendly  motive.  I  shall  write  to  Candy  at  once." 

The  man's  face  was  not  an  agreeable  study.  He 
looked  angry ;  he  looked  baffled ;  and  yet  he  looked 
incredulous.  "  Now,  come,"  said  he,  "  if  you  are 
not  Keswick,  what  did  you  pay  me  that  money 
for?" 

"  I  paid  it  to  you,"  said  Lawrence,  "  because  I 
wanted  to  find  out  what  dirty  business  you  were  do 
ing  in  my  name.  I  have  had  the  worth  of  my  money, 
and  you  can  now  go." 

The  man  did  not  go,  but  stood  gazing  at  Law 
rence  in  a  very  peculiar  way.  "  If  Mr  Keswick  isn't 
here,"  he  said,  "  I  believe  you  are  here  waiting  for 
him,  and  I  am  going  to  stay  and  warn  him.  People 
don't  set  private  detectives  on  other  men's  tracks 
just  for  friendly  motives." 

Lawrence's  face  flushed  and  he  made  a  step  for 
ward,  but  suddenly  checking  himself,  he  looked  at 
the  man  for  a  moment  and  then  said :  "  I  suppose 
you  want  me  to  understand  that  if  I  become  one  of 
your  subscribers  in  my  own  name,  you  will  be  willing 
to  withhold  the  information  you  intended  to  give 
Mr  Keswick." 

"  Well,"  said  the  man,  relapsing  into  his  former 
confidential  tones,  "business  is  business.  If  I  could 
see  Mr  Keswick,  I  don't  know  whether  he  would  em 
ploy  me  or  not.  I  have  no  reason  to  work  for  one 


22O  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

person  more  than  another,  and,  of  course,  if  one 
man  comes  to  me  and  another  doesn't,  I'm  bound  to 
work  for  the  man  who  comes.  That's  business  ! " 

"  You  have  said  quite  enough,"  said  Lawrence. 
"  Now  leave  this  place  instantly  !  " 

"  No,  I  won't !  "  said  the  man,  shutting  his  mouth 
very  tightly,  as  he  drew  himself  up  and  folded  his 
arms  on  his  chest. 

Lawrence  was  young,  well-made,  and  strong,  but 
the  other  man  was  taller,  heavier,  and  perhaps 
stronger.  To  engage  in  a  personal  contest  to  compel 
a  fellow  like  this  to  depart,  would  be  a  very  unpleas 
ant  thing  for  Lawrence  to  do,  even  if  he  succeeded. 
He  was  a  visitor  here,  the  ladies  would  probably  be 
witnesses  of  the  conflict,  and  although  the  natural 
impulse  of  his  heart,  predominant  over  everything 
else  at  that  moment,  prompted  him  to  spring  upon 
the  impudent  fellow  and  endeavor  to  thrash  him,  still 
his  instincts  as  a  gentleman  forbade  him  to  enter 
into  such  a  contest,  which  would  probably  have  no 
good  effect,  no  matter  how  it  resulted.  Never  be 
fore  did  he  feel  the  weakness  of  the  moral  power  of 
a  just  cause  when  opposed  to  brutal  obstinacy.  Still 
he  did  not  retreat  from  his  position.  "  Did  you 
hear  what  I  said  ?  "  he  cried.  "  Leave  this  place  !  " 

"  You  are  not  master  here,"  said  the  other,  still 
preserving  his  defiant  attitude,  "  and  you  have  no 
right  to  order  me  away.  I  am  not  going." 

Despite  his  inferiority  in  size,  despite  his  gentle 
manly  instincts,  and  despite  his  prudent  desire  not 
to  make  an  exhibition  of  himself  before  Miss  March 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  221 

and  the  household,  it  is  probable  that  Lawrence's 
anger  would  have  assumed  some  form  of  physical 
manifestation,  had  not  Mrs  Keswick  appeared  sud 
denly  on  the  porch.  It  was  quite  evident  to  her, 
from  the  aspect  of  the  two  men,  that  something  was 
wrong,  and  she  called  out :  "  Who's  that  ?  " 

"  That,  madam,"  said  Lawrence,  stepping  a  little 
back,  "  is  a  very  impertinent  man  who  has  no  busi 
ness  here,  and  whom  I've  ordered  off  the  place,  and, 
as  he  has  refused  to  go,  I  propose — 

"  Stop  ! "  cried  the  old  lady.  And  turning,  she 
rushed  into  the  house.  Before  either  of  the  men 
could  recover  from  their  surprise  at  her  sudden  ac 
tion,  she  reappeared  upon  the  porch,  carrying  a 
double-barreled  gun.  Taking  her  position  on  the  top 
of  the  flight  of  steps,  with  a  quick  movement  of  her 
thumb  she  cocked  both  barrels.  Then,  drawing  her 
self  up  and  resting  firmly  on  her  right  leg,  with  the 
left  advanced,  she  raised  the  gun  ;  her  right  elbow 
well  against  her  side,  and  with  her  extended  left  arm 
as  steady  as  one  of  the  beams  of  the  roof  above  her. 
She  hooked  her  forefinger  around  one  of  the  trig 
gers,  her  eagle  eye  glanced  along  the  barrels  straight 
at  the  head  of  the  anti-detective,  and,  in  a  clarion 
voice  she  sang  out  "  Go  ! " 

The  man  stared  at  her.  He  saw  the  open  muzzles 
of  the  gun  barrels ;  beyond  them,  he  saw  the  bright 
tops  of  the  two-  percussion  caps ;  and  still  beyond 
them,  he  saw  the  bright  and  determined  eye  that  was 
taking  sight  along  the  barrels.  All  this  he  took  in 
at  a  glance,  and,  without  word  or  comment,  he  made 


222  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

a  quick  dodge  of  his  head,  jumped  to  one  side,  made 
a  dash  for  his  horse,  and,  untying  the  bridle  with  a 
jerk,  he  mounted  and  galloped  out  of  the  open  gate, 
turning  as  he  did  so  to  find  himself  still  covered  by 
the  muzzles  of  that  gun.  When  he  had  nearly 
reached  the  outer  gate  and  felt  himself  out  of  range, 
he  turned  in  his  saddle,  and  looking  back  at  Law 
rence,  who  was  still  standing  where  he  had  left  him, 
he  violently  shook  his  fist  in  the  air. 

"  Which  means,"  said  Lawrence  to  himself,  "  that 
he  intends  to  make  trouble  with  Keswick." 

"That  settled  him,"  said  the  old  lady,  with  a 
grim  smile,  as  she  lowered  the  muzzle  of  the  gun, 
and  gently  let  down  the  hammers. 

"  Madam,"  said  Lawrence,  advancing  toward  her, 
"  may  I  ask  if  that  gun  is  loaded  ?  " 

"  I  should  say  so,"  replied  the  old  lady.  "  In 
each  barrel  are  two  thimblefuls  of  powder,  and  half- 
a-box  of  Windfall's  Teaberry  Tonic  Pills,  each  one 
of  them  as  big  and  as  hard  as  a  buckshot.  They 
were  brought  here  by  a  travelling  agent,  who  sold 
some  of  them  to  my  people  ;  and  I  tell  you,  sir, 
that  those  pills  made  them  so  sick  that  one  man 
wasn't  able  to  work  for  two  days,  and  another  for 
three.  I  vowed  if  that  agent  ever  came  back,  I'd 
shoot  his  abominable  pills  into  him,  and  I've  kept 
the  gun  loaded  for  the  purpose.  Was  this  a  pill 
man  ?  I  scarcely  think  he  was  a  fertilizer,  because 
it  is  rather  late  in  the  season  for  those  bandits." 

"  He  is  a  man,"  said  Lawrence,  coming  up  the 
steps,  "who  belongs  to  a  class  much  worse  than 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  223 

those  you  have  mentioned.  He  is  what  is  called  a 
blackmailer." 

"  Is  that  so  ?"  cried  the  old  lady,  her  eyes  flash 
ing  as  she  brought  the  butt  of  the  gun  heavily  upon 
the  porch  floor.  "  I'm  very  glad  I  did  not  know  it; 
very  glad,  indeed ;  for  I  might  have  been  tempted 
to  give  him  what  belonged  to  another,  without  wait 
ing  for  him  to  disobey  my  order  to  go.  I  am  very 
much  troubled,  sir,  that  this  annoyance  should  have 
happened  to  you  in  my  house.  Pray  do  not  allow 
it  to  interfere  with  the  enjoyment  of  your  visit  here, 
which  I  hope  may  continue  as  long  as  you  can  make 
it  convenient." 

The  words  and  manner  convinced  Lawrence  that 
that  they  did  not  merely  indicate  a  conventional 
hospitality.  The  old  lady  meant  what  she  said. 
She  wanted  him  to  stay. 

That  morning  he  had  become  convinced  that  he 
had  been  invited  there  because  Mrs  Keswick  wished 
him  to  marry  Miss  March  ;  and  she  had  done  this, 
not  out  of  any  kind  feeling  toward  him,  because  that 
would  be  impossible,  considering  the  shortness  of 
their  acquaintance,  but  because  she  was  opposed  to 
her  nephew's  marriage  with  Miss  March,  and  because 
he,  Lawrence,  was  the  only  available  person  who 
could  be  brought  forward  to  supplant  him.  "  But 
whatever  her  motive  is,"  thought  Lawrence,  "  her 
invitation  comes  in  admirably  for  me,  and  I  hope  I 
shall  get  the  proper  advantage  from  it." 

Shortly  after  this,  Lawrence  sat  in  the  parlor,  by 
himself,  writing  a  letter.  It  was  to  Junius  Keswick  ; 


224  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

and  in  it  he  related  the  facts  of  his  search  for 
him  in  New  York,  and  the  reason  why  he  desired 
to  make  his  acquaintance.  He  concealed  nothing 
but  the  fact  that  Keswick's  cousin  had  had  any 
thing  to  do  with  the  affair.  "  If  she  wants  him  to 
know  that,"  he  thought,  "  she  can  tell  him  herself. 
It  is  not  my  business  to  make  any  revelations  in 
that  quarter."  He  concluded  the  letter  by  inform 
ing  Mr  Keswick  of  the  visit  of  the  anti-detective, 
and  warning  him  against  any  attempts  which  that 
individual  might  make  upon  his  pocket,  assuring 
him  that  the  man  could  tell  him  nothing  in  regard 
to  the  affair  that  he  now  did  not  know. 

After  dinner,  during  which  meal  Miss  March  ap 
peared  in  a  very  good  humor,  and  talked  rather 
more  than  she  had  yet  done  in  the  bosom  of  that 
family,  Lawrence  had  his  horse  saddled,  and  rode 
to  the  railroad  station,  about  six  miles  distant, 
where  he  posted  his  letter ;  and  also  sent  a  telegram 
to  Mr  Junius  Keswick,  warning  him  to  pay  no  at 
tention  to  any  man  who  might  call  upon  him  on 
business  connected  with  Croft  and  Keswick,  and 
stating  that  an  explanatory  letter  had  been  sent. 

The  anti-detective  had  left  on  a  train  an  hour 
before,  but  Lawrence  felt  certain  that  the  telegram 
would  reach  Keswick  before  the  man  could  possi 
bly  get  to  him,  especially  as  the  latter  had  probably 
not  yet  found  out  his  intended  victim's  address. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

As  Lawrence  Croft  rode  back  to  Mrs  Keswick's 
house,  after  having  posted  to  his  rival  the  facts  in 
the  case  of  Croft  after  Keswick,  he  did  not  feel  in  a 
very  happy  or  triumphant  mood.  The  visit  of  the 
anti-detective  had  compelled  him  to  write  to  Kes 
wick  at  a  time  when  it  was  not  at  all  desirable  that 
he  should  make  any  disclosures  whatever  in  regard 
to  his  love  affair  with  Miss  March,  except  that  very 
important  disclosure  which  he  had  made  to  the  lady 
herself  that  morning.  Of  course  there  was  no  great 
danger  that  any  intimation  would  reach  Miss  March 
of  Mr  Croft's  rather  eccentric  search  for  his  prede 
cessor  in  the  position  which  he  wished  to  occupy 
in  her  affections.  But  the  matter  was  particularly 
unpleasant  just  now,  and  Lawrence  wished  to  occupy 
his  time  here  in  business  very  different  from  that 
of  sending  explanations  to  rivals  and  warding  off 
unfriendly  entanglements  threatened  by  a  black 
mailer. 

It  was  absolutely  necessary  for  him  to  find  out 
what  he  had  done  to  offend  Miss  March.  Offended 
that  lady  certainly  was,  and  he  even  felt  that  she  was 
glad  of  the  opportunity  his  declaration  gave  her  to 
inflict  punishment  upon  him.  But  still  he  did  not 
despair.  When  she  had  made  him  pay  the  penalty 
15 


226  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

she  thought  proper  for  whatever  error  he  had  com 
mitted,  she  might  be  willing  to  listen  to  him.  He 
had  not  said  anything  to  her  in  regard  to  his  failure 
to  make  her  the  promised  visit  at  Midbranch,  for, 
during  the  only  time  he  had  been  alone  with  her  here, 
the  subject  of  an  immediate  statement  of  his  feelings 
toward  her  had  wholly  occupied  his  mind.  But  it 
now  occurred  to  him  that  she  had  reason  to  feel 
aggrieved  at  his  failure  to  keep  his  promise  to  her, 
and  she  must  have  shown  that  feeling,  for,  other 
wise,  her  most  devoted  friend,  Mr  Junius  Keswick, 
would-never  have  made  that  rather  remarkable  visit 
to  him  at  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs.  Of  course  he 
would  not  allude  to  that  visit,  nor  to  her  wish  to  see 
him,  for  she  had  sent  him  no  message,  nor  did  he 
know  what  object  she  had  in  desiring  an  interview. 
But  it  was  quite  possible  that  she  might  have  taken 
umbrage  at  his  failure  to  come  to  her  when  expected, 
and  that  this  was  the  reason  for  her  present  treat 
ment  of  him.  To  this  treatment  Lawrence  might 
have  taken  exception,  but  now  he  did  not  wish  to 
judge  her  in  any  way.  His  only  desire  in  regard  to 
her  was  to  possess  her,  and  therefore,  instead  of  con 
demning  her  for  her  unjust  method  of  showing  her 
resentment,  he  merely  considered  how  he  should  set 
himself  right  with  her.  Cruel  or  kind,  just  or  un 
just,  he  wanted  her 

And  then,  as  he  slowly  trotted  along  the  lonely 
and  uneven  road,  it  suddenly  flashed  upon  him,  as  if 
in  mounting  a  hill,  a  far-reaching  landscape,  hitherto 
unseen,  had  in  a  moment,  spread  itself  out  before 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  227 

him,  that,  perhaps,  Miss  March  had  divined  the 
reason  of  his  extremely  discreet  behavior  toward 
her.  Was  it  possible  that  she  had  seen  his  motives, 
and  knew  the  truth,  and  that  she  resented  the  pru 
dence  and  caution  he  had  shown  in  his  intercourse 
with  her  ? 

If  she  had  read  the  truth,  he  felt  that  she  had 
good  reason  for  her  resentment,  and  Lawrence  did 
not  trouble  himself  to  consider  if  she  had  shown  too 
much  of  it  or  not.  He  remembered  the  story  of  the 
defeated  general,  and,  feeling  that  so  far  he  had  been 
thoroughly  defeated,  he  determined  to  admit  the 
fact,  and  to  sound  a  retreat  from  all  the  positions  he 
had  held ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  to  make  a  bold 
dash  into  the  enemy's  camp,  and,  if  possible,  capture 
the  commander-in-chief  and  the  Minister  of  War. 

He  would  go  to  Roberta,  tell  her  all  that  he  had 
thought,  and  explain  all  that  he  had  done.  There 
should  be  no  bit  of  truth  which  she  could  have 
reasoned  out,  which  he  would  not  plainly  avow  and 
set  before  her.  Then  he  would  declare  to  her  that 
his  love  for  her  had  become  so  great,  that,  rushing 
over  every  barrier,  whether  of  prudence,  doubt,  or 
indecision,  it  had  carried  him  with  it  and  laid  him  at 
her  feet.  When  he  had  come  to  this  bold  conclu 
sion,  he  cheered  up  his  horse  with  a  thump  of  his 
heel  and  cantered  rapidly  over  the  rest  of  the  road. 

Peggy,  having  nothing  else  to  do,  was  standing  by 
the  yard  gate  when  he  came  in  sight,  and  she 
watched  his  approach  with  feelings  of  surprise  and 
disgust.  She  had  seen  him  ride  away,  and  not  con- 


228  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

sidering  the  fact  that  he  did  not  carry  his  valise 
with  him,  she  supposed  he  had  taken  his  final  de 
parture.  She  had  conceived  a  violent  dislike  to  Mr 
Croft,  looking  upon  him  in  the  light  of  an  inter 
loper  and  a  robber,  who  had  come  to  break  up  that 
expected  marriage  between  Master  Junius  and  Miss 
Rob,  which  the  servants  at  Midbranch  looked  for 
ward  to  as  necessary  for  the  prosperity  of  the  family  ; 
and  the  preliminary  stages  of  which  she  had  taken 
upon  herself  the  responsibility  of  describing  with  so 
much  minuteness  of  detail.  With  the  politeness 
natural  to  the  Southern  negro,  she  opened  the  gate 
for  the  gentleman,  but  as  she  closed  it  behind  him, 
she  cast  after  him  a  look  of  earnest  malevolence. 
"  Ef  dot  ole  Miss  Keswick  don'  kunjer  you,  sah," 
she  said  in  an  undertone,  "  I's  gwine  to  do  it  myse'f. 
So,  dar !  "  And  she  gave  her  foot  a  stamp  on  the 
ground. 

Lawrence,  all  ignorant  of  the  malignant  feeling  he 
had  excited  in  this,  to  him,  very  unimportant  and 
uninteresting  black  girl,  tied  his  horse  and  went  into 
the  house.  As  he  passed  the  open  door  of  the  par 
lor  he  saw  a  lady  reading  by  a  window  in  the  farthest 
corner.  Hanging  up  his  hat,  he  entered,  hoping 
that  the  reader,  whose  form  was  partially  concealed 
by  the  back  of  the  large  rocking  chair  in  which  she 
was  sitting,  was  Miss  March.  But  it  was  not ;  it 
was  Mrs  Keswick's  niece,  deeply  engrossed  by  a 
large-paged  novel.  She  turned  her  head  as  he 
entered,  and  said  :  u  Good  evening." 

"  Good  evening,  Miss  Annie,"  said  Lawrence,  seat- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  229 

ing  himself  in  a  chair  opposite  her  on  the  other  side 
of  the  window. 

"  Mr  Croft,"  said  she,  laying  her  book  on  her  lap, 
and  inclining  herself  slightly  toward  him,  "you 
have  no  right  to  call  me  Miss  Annie,  and  I  wish  you 
would  not  do  it.  The  servants  in  the  South  call 
ladies  by  their  first  names,  whether  they  are  married 
or  not,  but  people  would  think  it  very  strange  if 
you  should  imitate  them.  My  name  in  this  house  is 
Mrs  Null,  and  I  wish  you  would  not  forget  it." 

"  The  trouble  with  me  is,"  said  Lawrence,  with  a 
smile,  "  that  I  cannot  forget  it  is  not  Mrs  Null,  but, 
of  course,  if  you  desire  it,  I  will  give  you  that 
name." 

"  I  told  you  before  how  much  I  desired  it,"  said 
she,  "  and  why.  When  my  aunt  finds  out  the  exact 
state  of  this  affair,  I  shall  wish  to  stay  no  longer 
in  this  house ;  and  I  don't  want  my  stay  to  come  to 
an  end  at  present.  I  am  very  happy  here  with  the 
only  relatives  I  have  in  the  world,  who  are  ever  so 
much  nicer  people  than  I  supposed  they  were,  and 
you  have  no  right  to  come  here  and  drive  me 
away." 

"  My  dear  young  lady,"  said  Croft,  "  I  wouldn't 
do  such  a  thing  for  the  world.  I  admit  that  I  am 
very  sorry  that  it  is  necessary,  or  appears  to  you  to 
be  so,  that  you  should  be  here  under  false  colors, 
but— 

"  Appears  to  be,"  said  she,  with  much  emphasis 
on  the  first  word.  "  Why,  can't  you  see  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  me,  as  a  young  unmarried 


230  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

woman,  to  come  to  the  house  of  a  man,  whose  pro 
prietor,  as  Aunt  Keswick  considers  herself  to  be, 
has  been  trying  to  marry  to  me,  even  before  I  was 
grown  up  ;  for  the  letters  that  used  to  make  my 
father  most  angry  were  about  this.  I  hate  to  talk 
of  these  family  affairs,  and  I  only  do  it  so  that  you 
can  be  made  understand  things." 

"  Mrs.  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "  do  not  think  I  wish 
to  blame  you.  You  have  had  a  hard  time  of  it,  and 
I  can  see  the  peculiarities  of  your  residence  here. 
Don't  be  afraid  of  me  ;  I  will  not  betray  your  secret. 
While  I  am  here,  I  will  address  you,  and  will  try  to 
think  of  you  as  a  very  grave  young  matron.  But  I 
wish  very  much  that  you  were  not  quite  so  grave 
and  severe  when  you  address  me.  When  I  was  here 
last  week  your  manner  was  very  different.  We 
were  quite  friendly  then." 

"  I  see  no  particular  reason,"  said  Annie,  "  why 
we  should  be  friendly." 

"  Mrs.  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  after  a  little  pause, 
during  which  he  looked  at  her  attentively,  "  I  don't 
believe  you  approve  of  me." 

"No,"  said  she,  "I  don't." 

He  could  not  help  smiling  at  the  earnest  direct 
ness  of  her  answer,  though  he  did  not  like  it.  "  I  am 
sorry,"  he  said,  "  that  you  should  have  so  poor  an 
opinion  of  me.  And,  now,  let  me  tell  you  what  I 
was  going  to  say  this  morning,  that  my  only  object 
in  finding  your  cousin  was  to  know  the  man  who 
had  been  engaged  to  Miss  March." 

"  So  that  you  could  find  out  what  she  probably 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  231 

objected  to  in  him,  and  could  then  try  and  not  let  her 
see  anything  of  that  sort  in  you." 

"Mrs  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "you  are  unjust. 
There  is  no  reason  why  you  should  speak  to  me  in 
this  way." 

"  I  would  like  to  know,"  she  said,  *'  what  cause 
there  could  possibly  be  for  your  wanting  to  become 
acquainted  with  a  man  who  had  been  'engaged  to 
the  lady  you  wished  to  marry,  if  you  didn't  intend 
to  study  him  up,  and  try  to  do  better  yourself." 

"  My  motive  in  desiring  to  become  acquainted 
with  Mr  Keswick,"  said  Lawrence,  "  is  one  you  could 
scarcely  understand,  and  all  I  can  say  about  it  is, 
that  I  believed  that  if  I  knew  the  gentleman  who  had 
formerly  been  the  accepted  lover  of  a  lady,  I  should 
better  know  the  lady." 

"  You  must  be  awfully  suspicious,"  said  she. 

"  No,  I  am  not,"  he  answered,  "  and  I  knew  you 
would  not  understand  me.  My  only  desire  in  speak 
ing  to  you  upon  this  subject  is  that  you  may  not 
unreasonably  judge  me." 

"  But  I  am  not  unreasonable,"  said  Annie.  "  You 
are  trying  to  get  Miss  March  away  from  my  cousin; 
and  I  don't  think  it  is  fair,  and  I  don't  want  you  to 
do  it.  When  you  were  here  before,  I  thought  you 
two  were  good  friends,  but  now  I  don't  believe  it." 

How  friendly  might  be  the  relations  between 
himself  and  Keswick,  when  the  latter  should  read 
his  letter  about  the  Candy  affair,  and  should 
know  that  he  was  in  this  house  with  Miss  March, 
Lawrence  could  not  say ;  but  he  did  not  allude  to 


232  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

this  point  in  his  companion's  remarks.  "  I  do  not 
think,"  he  said,  "  that  you  have  any  reason  to  object 
to  my  endeavoring  to  win  Miss  March.  Even  if  she 
accepts  me,  it  will  be  to  the  advantage  of  your 
cousin,  because  if  he  still  hopes  to  obtain  her,  the 
sooner  he  knows  he  cannot  do  so,  the  better  it  will 
be  for  him.  My  course  is  perfectly  fair.  I  am 
aware  that  .the  lady  is  not  at  present  engaged  to 
any  one,  and  I  am  endeavoring  to  induce  her  to  en 
gage  herself  to  me.  If  I  fail,  then  I  step  aside." 

"  Entirely  aside,  and  out  of  the  way?"  asked  Mrs 
Null. 

*•  Entirely,"  answered  Lawrence. 

"  Well,"  said  Annie,  leaning  back  in  her  chair,  in 
which  before  she  had  been  sitting  very  upright, 
"  you  have,  at  last,  given  me  a  good  deal  of  your 
confidence  ;  almost  as  much  as  I  gave  you.  Some 
of  the  things  you  say  I  believe,  others  I  don't." 

Lawrence  was  annoyed,  but  he  would  not  allow 
himself  to  get  angry.  "  I  am  not  accustomed  to  being 
disbelieved,"  he  said,  gravely.  "  It  is  a  very  unusual 
experience,  I  assure  you.  Which  of  my  statements 
do  you  doubt  ?" 

"  I  don't  believe,"  said  Annie,  "  that  you  will  give 
her  up  if  she  rejects  you  while  you  are  here.  You 
are  too  wilful.  You  will  follow  her,  and  try  again." 

"  Mrs  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  do  not  feel  justi 
fied  in  speaking  to  a  third  person  of  these  things, 
but  this  is  a  peculiar  case,  and,  therefore,  I  assure 
you,  and  request  you  to  believe  me,  that  if  Miss 
March  shall  now  positively  refuse  me,  I  shall  feel 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  233 

convinced  that  her  affections  are  already  occupied, 
and  that  I  have  no  right  to  press  my  suit  any 
longer." 

"  Would  you  like  to  begin  now  ? "  said  Annie. 
"  She  is  coming  down  stairs." 

"  You  are  entirely  too  matter-of-fact,"  said  Law 
rence,  smiling  in  spite  of  himself,  and,  in  a  moment, 
Roberta  entered  the  room. 

If  the  young  lady  in  the  high-backed  rocking-chair 
had  any  idea  of  giving  Mr  Croft  and  Miss  March  an 
opportunity  of  expressing  their  sentiments  toward 
each  other,  she  took  no  immediate  steps  to  do  so ; 
for  she  gently  rocked  herself;  she  talked  about  the 
novel  she  had  been  reading;  she  blamed  Miss  March 
for  staying  so  long  in  her  room  on  such  a  beautiful 
afternoon ;  and  she  was  the  primary  cause  of  a  con 
versation  among  the  three  upon  the  differences 
between  New  York  weather  and  that  of  Virginia; 
and  this  continued  until  old  Mrs  Keswick  joined 
the  party,  and  changed  the  conversation  to  the 
consideration  of  the  fact  that  a  fertilizer  agent,  a 
pill  man,  or  a  blackmailer  would  find  out  a  person's 
whereabouts,  even  if  he  were  attending  the  funeral 
of  his  grandmother  on  a  desert  island. 

The  next  morning,  about  an  hour  after  breakfast, 
Lawrence  was  walking  up  and  down  on  the  grass  in 
front  of  the  house,  smoking  a  cigar,  and  troubling 
his  mind.  He  had  had  no  opportunity  on  the 
previous  evening  to  be  alone  with  Miss  March,  for 
the  little  party  sat  together  in  the  parlor  until  they 
separated  for  bed ;  and  so,  of  course,  nothing  was 


234  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

yet  settled.  He  was  overstaying  the  time  he  had 
expected  to  spend  here,  and  he  felt  nervous  about 
it.  He  had  hoped  to  see  Miss  March  after  break 
fast,  but  she  seemed  to  have  withdrawn  herself 
entirely  from  observation.  Perhaps  she  considered 
that  she  had  sufficiently  rejected  him  on  the  pre 
vious  morning,  and  that  she  now  intended,  except 
when  she  was  sure  of  the  company  of  the  others,  to 
remain  in  her  room  until  he  should  go  away.  But 
he  had  no  such  opinion  in  regard  to  their  interview 
on  Pine  Top  Hill.  He  believed  that  he  had  been 
punished,  not  rejected,  and  that  when  he  should  be 
able  to  explain  everything  to  her,  he  would  be  for 
given.  That,  at  least,  was  his  earnest  hope,  and 
hope  makes  us  believe  almost  anything. 

But,  although  there  were  so  many  difficulties  in 
his  way,  Lawrence  had  a  friend  in  that  household 
who  still  remained  true  to  him.  Mrs  Keswick,  with 
sun-bonnet  and  umbrella,  came  out  upon  the  porch, 
and  said  cheerily :  "  I  should  think  a  gentleman  like 
you  would  prefer  to  be  with  the  ladies  than  to  be 
walking  about  here  by  yourself.  They  have  gone 
to  take  a  walk  in  the  woods.  I  should  have  said 
that  Pvtiss  March  has  gone  on  ahead,  with  her  little 
maid  Peggy.  My  niece  was  going  with  her,  but  I 
called  her  back  to  attend  to  some  housekeeping 
matters  for  me,  and  I  think  she  will  be  kept  longer 
than  she  expected,  for  I  have  just  sent  Letty  to  her 
to  be  shown  how  to  cut  out  a  frock.  But  you 
needn't  wait ;  you  can  go  right  through  the  flower- 
garden,  and  take  the  path  over  the  fields  into  the 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  235 

woods."  And,  having  concluded  this  bit  of  con 
scienceless  and  transparent  management,  the  old 
lady  remarked  that  she,  herself,  was  going  for  a  walk, 
and  left  him. 

Lawrence  lost  no  time  in  following  her  suggestions. 
Throwing  away  his  cigar,  he  hurried  through  the 
house  and  the  little  flower-garden,  a  gate  at  the 
back  of  which  opened  into  a  wide  pasture-field. 
This  field  sloped  down  gentiy  to  a  branch,  or  little 
stream,  which  ran  through  the  middle  of  it,  and  then 
the  ground  ascended  until  it  reached  the  edge  of 
the  woods.  Following  the  well-defined  path,  he 
looked  across  the  little  valley  before  him,  and  could 
see,  just  inside  the  edge  of  the  woods — the  trees  and 
bushes  being  much  more  thinly  attired  than  in  the 
summer  time — the  form  of  a  lady  in  a  light-colored 
dress  with  a  red  scarf  upon  her  shoulders,  sometimes 
moving  slowly,  sometimes  stopping.  This  was  Rob 
erta,  and  those  woods  were  a  far  better  place  than 
the  exposed  summit  of  Pine  Top  Hill,  in  which  to 
plight  his  troth,  if  it  should  be  so  that  he  should  be 
able  to  do  it,  and  there  were  doubtless  paths  in  those 
woods  through  which  they  might  afterwards  wander, 
if  things  should  turn  out  propitiously.  At  all  events, 
in  those  woods  would  he  settle  this  affair. 

His  intention  was  still  strong  to  make  a  very  clean 
breast  of  it  to  Roberta.  If  she  had  blamed  him  for  his 
prudent  reserve,  she  should  have  full  opportunity  to 
forgive  him.  All  that  he  had  been  she  should  know, 
but  far  more  important  than  that,  he  would  try  to 
make  her  know,  better  than  he  had  done  before,  what 


236  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

he  was  now.  Abandoning  all  his  previous  positions, 
and  mounted  on  these  strong  resolutions,  thus  would 
he  dash  into  her  camp,  and  hope  to  capture  her. 

Reaching  the  Jittle  ravine,  at  the  bottom  of  which 
flowed  the  branch,  now  but  two  or  three  feet  wide, 
he  ran  down  the  rather  steep  slope  and  stepped 
upon  the  stout  plank  which  bridged  the  stream.  The 
instant  he  did  so,  the  plank  turned  beneath  him  as 
if  it  had  been  hung  on  pivots,  and  he  fell  into  the 
stony  bed  of  the  branch.  It  was  an  awkward  fall,  for 
the  leg  which  was  undermost  came  down  at  an 
angle,  and  his  foot,  striking  a  slippery  stone,  turned 
under  him.  In  a  moment  he  was  on  his  feet,  and 
scrambled  up  the  side  of  the  ravine,  down  which 
he  had  just  come.  When  he  reached  the  top 
he  sat  down  and  put  both  his  hands  on  his  right 
ankle,  in  which  he  felt  considerable  pain.  In  a  few 
minutes  he  arose,  and  began  to  walk  toward  the 
house,  but  he  had  not  taken  a  dozen  steps  before  he 
sat  down  again.  The  pain  in  his  ankle  was  very  se 
vere,  and  he  felt  quite  sure  that  he  had  sprained  it. 
He  knew  enough  about  such  things  to  understand 
that  if  he  walked  upon  this  injured  joint,  he 
would  not  only  make  the  pain  worse,  but  'the 
consequences  might  be  serious.  He  was  very  much 
annoyed,  not  only  that  this  thing  had  happened  to 
him,  but  that  it  had  happened  at  such  an  inauspi 
cious  moment.  Of  course,  he  could  not  now  go  on 
to  the  woods,  and  he  must  get  somebody  to  help 
him  to  the  house.  Looking  about,  he  saw,  at  a  dis 
tance,  Uncle  Isham,  and  he  called  loudly  to  him. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  237 

As  soon  as  Lawrence  was  well  away  from  the  edge 
of  the  ravine,  there  emerged  from  some  thick  bushes 
on  the  other  side  of  it,  and  at  a  short  distance  from 
the  crossing-place,  a  negro  girl,  who  slipped  noise 
lessly  down  to  the  branch ;  moved  with  quick  steps 
and  crouching  body  to  the  plank ;  removed  the  two 
round  stones  on  which  it  had  been  skilfully  poised, 
and  replaced  it  in  its  usual  firm  position.  This  done, 
she  slipped  back  into  the  bushes,  and  by  the  time 
I  sham  had  heard  the  call  of  Mr.  Croft,  she  was  slowly 
walking  down  the  opposite  hill,  as  if  she  were  com 
ing  from  the  woods  to  see  why  the  gentleman  was 
shouting. 

Miss  March  also  heard  the  call,  and  came  out  of 
the  woods,  and  when  she  saw  Lawrence  sitting  on 
the  grass  on  the  other  side  of  the  branch,  with 
one  hand  upon  his  ankle,  she  knew  that  something 
had  happened,  and  came  down  toward  him.  Law 
rence  saw  her  approaching,  and  before  she  was  even 
near  enough  to  hear  him,  he  began  to  shout  to  her 
to  be  careful  about  crossing  the  branch,  as  the  board 
was  unsafe.  Peggy  joined  her,  and  walked  on  in 
front  of  her ;  and  when  Miss  March  understood 
wrhat  Lawrence  was  saying,  she  called  back  that  she 
would  be  careful.  When  they  reached  the  ravine, 
Peggy  ran  down,  stepped  upon  the  plank,  jumped 
on  the  middle  of  it,  walked  over  it,  and  then  back 
again,  and  assured  her  mistress  that  it  was  just  as 
good  as  ever  it  was,  and  that  she  reckoned  the  city 
gentleman  didn't  know  how  to  walk  on  planks,  and 
that  "he  jes'  done  fall  off." 


238  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Miss  March  crossed,  stepping  a  little  cautiously, 
and  reached  Lawrence  just  as  Uncle  Isham,  with 
strong  arms  and  many  words  of  sympathy,  had  as 
sisted  him  to  his  feet.  "  What  has  happened  to  you, 
Mr.  Croft  ?  "  she  exclaimed. 

"  I  was  coming  to  you,"  he  said  ;  "  and  in  crossing 
the  stream  the  plank  turned  under  me,  and  I  am 
afraid  I  have  sprained  my  ankle.  I  can't  walk  on 
it." 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  she  said. 

"  Because  I  was  coming  to  you,"  he  said,  grimly, 
"  or  because  I  hurt  myself  ?  " 

"  You  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  speak  in  that  way," 
she  answered,  "  but  I  won't  find  fault  with  you,  now 
that  you  are  in  such  pain.  Is  there  anything  I  can 
do  for  you?" 

"  No,  thank  you,"  said  Lawrence.  "  I  will  lean  on 
this  good  man,  and  I  think  I  can  hop  to  the  house." 

"  Peggy,"  said  Miss  Roberta,  "walk  on  the  other 
side  of  the  gentleman,  and  let  him  lean  upon  your 
shoulder.  I  will  go  on  and  have  something  prepared 
to  put  on  his  ankle." 

With  one  side  supported  by  the  stout  Isham,  and 
his  other  hand  resting  on  the  shoulder  of  the  good 
little  Peggy,  who  bore  up  as  strongly  under  it  as  if 
she  had  been  a  big  walking-stick,  Lawrence  slowly 
made  his  way  to  the  house.  Miss  March  got  there 
sometime  before  he  did,  and  was  very  glad  to  find  that 
Mrs  Keswick  had  not  yet  gone  out  on  the  walk  for 
which  she  was  prepared.  That  circumspect  old  lady 
had  found  this  and  that  to  occupy  her,  while  she  so 


The  Late  Mrs  Nidi.  239 

managed  her  household  matters,  that  one  thing 
should  follow  another,  to  detain  her  niece.  But 
when  she  heard  what  had  happened,  all  other  im 
pulses  gave  way  to  those  which  belonged  to  a  head 
nurse  and  a  mistress  of  emergencies.  She  set  down 
her  umbrella;  shouted  an  order  to  Letty  to  put  a  ket 
tle  of  water  on  the  fire ;  brought  from  her  own  room 
some  flannel  and  two  bottles  of  embrocation  ;  and 
then  stopping  a  moment  to  reflect,  ordered  that  the 
office  should  be  prepared  for  Mr  Croft,  for  it  would 
be  a  shame  to  make  a  gentleman,  with  a  sprained 
ankle,  clamber  up  stairsc 

The  office  was  a  small  building  in  the  wide  front 
yard,  not  very  far  from  the  house,  and  opposite  to 
the  arbor,  which  has  been  before  mentioned.  It  was 
one  story  high,  and  contained  one  large  and  comfor 
table  room.  Such  buildings  are  quite  common  on 
Virginian  farms,  and  although  called  offices  are  sel 
dom  used  in  an  official  way,  being  generally  appropri 
ated  to  the  bachelors  of  the  family  or  their  gentle 
man  visitors.  This  one  was  occupied  by  Junius 
Keswick,  when  he  was  at  home,  and  a  good  many 
of  his  belongings  were  now  in  it ;  but  as  it  was  at 
present  unoccupied,  nothing  could  be  more  proper 
than  that  Mr  Croft  should  have  it. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ABOUT  noon  of  the  day  of  Mr  Croft's  accident, 
Uncle  Isham  had  occasion  to  go  to  the  cabin  of  the 
venerable  Aunt  Patsy,  and,  of  course  he  told  her 
what  had  happened  to  the  gentleman  v/hom  he  and 
Aunt  Patsy  still  supposed  to  be  Miss  Annie's 
husband.  The  news  produced  a  very  marked  effect 
upon  the  old  woman.  She  put  down  the  crazy 
quilt,  upon  the  unfinished  corner  of  which  she  was 
making  a  few  feeble  stiches,  and  looked  at  Uncle 
Isham  with  a  troubled  frown.  She  was  certain  that 
this  was  the  work  of  old  Mrs  Keswick,  who  had 
succeeded,  at  last,  in  conjuring  the  young  husband ; 
and  the  charm  she  had  given  him,  and  upon  which 
she  had  relied  to  avert  the  ill  will  of  "  ole  miss,"  had 
proved  unavailing.  T*he  conjuring  had  been  accom 
plished  so  craftily  and  slyly,  the  bewitched  plank 
in  one  place,  and  Mrs  Keswick  far  off  in  another, 
that  there  had  been  no  chance  to  use  the  counter 
acting  charm.  And  yet  Aunt  Patsy  had  thought 
it  a  good  charm,  a  very  good  one  indeed. 

Early  in  her  married  life  Mrs  Keswick  had  been 
the  mother  of  a  little  girl.  It  had  died  when  it  was 
very  small,  and  it  was  the  only  child  she  ever 
had.  Of  this  infant  she  preserved,  as  a  momento, 
a  complete  suit  of  its  clothes,  which  she  regarded 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  241 

with  a  feeling  almost  religious.  Years  ago,  how 
ever,  Aunt  Patsy,  in  order  to  protect  herself  against 
the  conjuring  powers  of  the  mistress  of  the  house, 
in  which  she  then  served  as  a  sort  of  supervising 
cook,  had  possessed  herself  of  the  shoes  belonging 
to  the  cherished  suit  of  clothes.  She  knew  the 
sacred  light  in  which  they  were  regarded  by  their 
owner,  and  she  felt  quite  sure  that  if  "  ole  miss  " 
ever  attempted,  in  one  of  her  fits  of  anger,  to  exer 
cise  her  power  of  limb  twisting  or  back  contortion 
upon  her,  that  the  sight  of  those  little  blue  shoes 
would  create  a  revulsion  of  feeling,  and,  as  she  put 
it  to  herself,  "  stop  her  mighty  short."  The  shoes 
had  never  been  missed,  for  the  box  containing  the 
suit  was  only  opened  on  one  day  of  the  year,  and 
then  all  the  old  lady  could  endure  was  a  peep  at  the 
little  white  frock  which  covered  the  rest  of  the  con 
tents  ;  and  Aunt  Patsy  well  knew  that  the  sight  of 
those  little  blue  shoes  would  be  to  her  mistress 
like  two  little  feet  coming  back  from  the  grave. 

Patsy  had  been  much  too  old  to  act  as  nurse  to 
the  infant,  Annie  Peyton,  then  regarded  as  the 
daughter  of  the  house,  but  she  had  always  felt  for 
the  child  the  deepest  affection  ;  and  now  that  she 
herself  was  so  near  the  end  of  her  career  that  she 
had  little  fear  of  being  bewitched,  she  was  willing  to 
give  up  the  safeguards  she  had  so  long  possessed, 
in  order  that  they  might  protect  the  man  whom 
Miss  Annie  had  loved  and  married.  But  they  had 
failed,  or  rather  it  had  been  impossible  to  use  them, 
and  Miss  Annie's  husband  had  been  stricken  down. 
16 


242  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  It's  pow'ful  hard  to  git  roun'  ole  miss/'  she 
groaned.  "  She  too  much  fur  ole  folks  like  I  is." 

At  this  remark  Uncle  Isham  fired  up.  Although 
the  conduct  of  his  mistress  troubled  him  at  times 
very  much  he  was  intensely  loyal  to  her,  and  he 
instantly  caught  the  meaning  of  this  aspersion 
against  her.  "  Now,  look  h'yar,  Aim'  Patsy,"  he 
exclaimed,  "wot  you  talkin'  'bout?  Wot  ole  miss 
got  to  do  wid  Mister  Crof  sprainin'  he  ankle  ?  Ole 
miss  warn't  dar ;  an'  when  I  done  fotch  him  up  to 
de  house,  she  cut  roun'  an'  do  more  fur  him  dan 
anybody  else.  She  got  de  hot  water,  an'  she  dipped 
de  flannels  in  it,  an'  she  wrop  up  de  ankle  all  herse'f, 
an'  when  she  got  him  all  fixed  comfable  in  de  ofris, 
she  says  to  me,  says  she,  *  Now,  Isham,  you  wait  on 
Mister  Crof,  an'  you  gib  him  eberything  he  want, 
an'  when  de  cool  ob  de  ebenin'  comes  on  you  make 
a  fire  in  dat  fire-place,  an'  stay  whar  he  kin  call  you 
wheneber  he  wants  you  to  wait  on  him.'  I  didn't 
eben  come  down  h'yar  till  I  axed  him  would  he 
want  me  fur  half  an  hour." 

"  Well,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  her  eyes  softening  a 
little,  "  p'raps  she  didn't  do  it  dis  time.  It  mout  a 
been  his  own  orkardness.  I  hopes  to  mussiful 
goodness  dat  dat  was  so.  But  wot  fur  you  call  him 
Mister  Crof  ?  Is  dat  he  fus'  name  ?  " 

"  I  reckon  so,"  said  Isham.  "  He  one  ob  de  fam'- 
ly  now,  an'  I  reckon  dey  calls  him  by  he  fus'  name. 
An'  now,  look  h'yar,  Aun'  Patsy,  I  wants  you  not 
to  disremember  dis  h'yar.  Don'  you  go  imaginin' 
ebery  time  anything  happens  to  folks,  that  ole  miss 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  243 

done  been  kunjerin'  'em.  Dat  ain't  pious,  an'  'taint 
suitable  fur  a  ole  pusson  like  you,  Aun'  Patsy,  wot's 
jus'  settin'  on  de  poach  steps  ob  heaben,  a  waitin' 
till  somebody  finds  out  you's  dar,  an'  let's  you  in." 

Aunt  Patsy  turned  her  great  spectacles  full  upon 
him,  and  then  she  said:  "You,  Isham,  ef  eber  you 
gits  a  call  to  preach  to  folks,  you  jus'  sing  out :  4  Oh, 
Lor',  I  aint  fit  !  '  And  den  you  go  crack  your  head 
wid  a  mill-stone,  fur  fear  you  git  called  agin,  fru  mis 
take." 

Uncle  Isham  made  no  answer  to  this  piece  of  ad 
vice,  but  taking  up  some  clothes  which  Aunt  Patsy's 
great  granddaughter*  had  washed  and  ironed  for 
him,  he  left  the  cabin.  He  was  a  man  much  given 
to  attending  to  his  own  business,  and  paying  very 
little  attention  to  those  affairs  of  his  mistress's 
household,  with  which  he  had  no  personal  concern. 
When  Mr  Croft  first  came  to  the  house  he,  as  well  as 
Aunt  Patsy,  had  been  told  that  it  was  Mr  Null,  the 
husband  of  Miss  Annie  ;  and  although  not  thinking 
much  about  it,  he  had  always  supposed  this  to  be 
the  case.  But  now  it  struck  him  as  a  very  strange 
thing  that  Miss  Annie  did  not  attend  to  her  hus 
band,  but  allowed  his  mistress  and  himself  to  do 
everything  that  was  done  for  him.  It  was  a  question 
which  his  mind  was  totally  incapable  of  solving,  but 
when  he  reached  the  house,  he  spoke  to  Letty  on 
the  subject. 

"  Bress  your  soul  !"  exclaimed  that  well-nourished 
person,  "  dat's  not  Mister  Null,  wot  married  Miss 
Annie.  Dat's  Mister  Crof,  an'  he  aint  married  to 


244  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

nobody.  Mister  Null  he  aint  come  yet,  but  I  reckon 
he'll  be  along  soon." 

"  Well  den,"  exclaimed  Isham,  much  surprised, 
"  how  come  Aun'  Patsy  to  take  he  for  Miss  Annie's 
husband  ?" 

"  Oh,  git  out !"  contemptuously  exclaimed  Letty, 
"  don' you  go  put  no  'count  on  dem  fool  notions  wot 
Aun'  Patsy  got  in  she  old  head.  Nobody  knows 
how  dey  come  dar,  no  more'n  how  dey  eber  manage 
to  git  out.  'Taint  no  use  splainin  nothin'  to  Aun' 
Patsy,  an'  if  she  b'lieves  dat's  Miss  Annie's  husband, 
you  can't  make  her  b'lieve  it's  anybody  else.  Jes'  you 
lef  her  alone.  Nuffin  she  b'lieves  aint  gwine  to  hurt 
her." 

And  Isham,  remembering  his  frequent  ill  success 
in  endeavoring  to  make  Aunt  Patsy  think  as  she 
ought  to  think,  concluded  that  this  was  good 
advice. 

At  the  time  of  the  conversation  just  mentioned, 
Lawrence  was  sitting  in  a  large  easy  chair  in  front 
of  the  open  door  of  the  room  of  which  he  had  been 
put  in  possession.  His  injured  foot  was  resting  upon 
a  cushioned  stool,  a  small  table  stood  by  him,  on 
which  were  his  cigar  and  match  cases ;  a  pitcher  of 
iced  water  and  a  glass,  and  a  late  copy  of  a  semi- 
weekly  paper.  Through  the  doorway,  which  was  but 
two  steps  higher  than  the  grass  sward  before  it,  his 
eyes  fell  upon  a  very  pleasing  scene.  To  the  right 
was  the  house,  with  its  vine-covered  porch  and 
several  great  oak  trees  overhanging  it,  which  still 
retained  their  heavy  foliage,  although  it  was  begin- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  245 

ning  to  lose  something  of  its  summer  green.  In  front 
of  him,  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  grassy  yard,  was 
the  pretty  little  arbor  in  which  he  had  told  Mr  Junius 
Keswick  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  his  speaking 
his  mind  to  Miss  March.  Beyond  the  large  garden, 
at  the  back  of  this  arbor,  stretched  a  wide  field  with 
a  fringe  of  woods  at  its  distant  edge,  gay  with  the 
colors  of  autumn.  The  sky  was  bright  and  blue, 
and  fair  white  clouds  moved  slowly  over  its  surface ; 
the  air  was  sunny  and  warm,  with  bumble-bees  hum 
ming  about  some  late-flowering  shrubs  ;  and,  high 
in  the  air,  floated  two  great  turkey-buzzards,  with  a 
beauty  of  motion  surpassed  by  no  other  flying  thing, 
with  never  a  movement  of  their  wide-spread  wings, 
except  to  give  them  the  necessary  inclination  as 
they  rose  with  the  wind,  and  then  turned  and  de 
scended  in  a  long  sweep,  only  to  rise  again  and  com 
plete  the  circle ;  sailing  thus  for  hours,  around  and 
around,  their  shadows  moving  over  the  fields  below 
them. 

Fearing  that  he  had  sustained  some  injury  more 
than  a  mere  sprain,  Lawrence  had  had  the  Hewlett's 
doctor  summoned,  and  that  general  practitioner  had 
come  and  gone,  after  having  assured  Mr  Croft  that 
no  bones  had  been  broken;  that  Mrs  Keswick's 
treatment  was  exactly  what  it  should  be,  and  that 
all  that  was  necessary  for  him  was  to  remain  quiet 
for  a  few  days,  and  be  very  careful  not  to  use  the 
injured  ankle.  Thus  he  had  the  prospect  of  but  a 
short  confinement ;  he  felt  no  present  pain  ;  and  there 
was  nothing  of  the  sick-room  atmosphere  in  his  sur- 


246  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

roundings,  for  his  position  close  to  the  door  almost 
gave  him  the  advantage  of  sitting  in  the  open  air  of 
this  bright  autumnal  day. 

But  Lawrence's  mind  dwelt  not  at  all  on  these 
ameliorating  circumstances ;  it  dwelt  only  upon  the 
fact  that  he  was  in  one  house  and  Miss  March  was  in 
another.  It  was  impossible  for  him  to  go  to  her,  and 
he  had  no  reason  to  believe  that  she  would  come  to 
him.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  it  would  be  natu 
ral  enough  for  her  to  look  in  upon  him  and  inquire 
into  his  condition,  but  now  the  case  was  very  differ 
ent.  She  knew  that  he  desired  to  see  her,  that  he 
had  been  coming  to  her  when  he  met  with  his  acci 
dent,  and  she  knew,  too,  exactly  what  he  wanted  to 
say  ;  and  it  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  a  lady  would 
come  to  a  man  to  be  wooed,  especially  this  lady, 
who  had  been  in  such  an  unfavorable  humor  when 
he  had  wooed  her  the  day  before. 

But  it  was  quite  impossible  for  Lawrence,  at  this 
most  important  crisis  of  his  life,  to  sit  without 
action  for  three  or  four  days,  during  which  time 
it  was  not  unlikely  that  Miss  March  might  go 
home.  But  what  was  he  to  do  ?  It  would  be  re- 
diculous  to  think  of  sending  for  her,  she  knowing 
for  what  purpose  she  was  wanted ;  and  as  for  writing 
a  letter,  that  did  not  suit  him  at  all.  There  was  too 
much  to  be  explained,  too  much  to  be  urged,  too 
much  to  be  avowed,  and,  probably,  too  many  con 
tingencies  to  be  met,  for  him  to  even  consider  the  sub 
ject  of  writing  a  letter.  A  proposal  on  paper  would 
most  certainly  bring  a  rejection  on  paper.  He  could 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  247 

think  of  no  plan  ;  he  must  trust  to  chance.  If  his 
lucky  star,  and  it  had  shown  a  good  deal  in  his  life, 
should  give  him  an  opportunity  of  speaking  to  her, 
he  would  lose  not  an  instant  in  broaching  the  impor 
tant  subject.  He  was  happy  to  think  he  had  a  friend 
in  the  old  lady.  Perhaps  she  might  bring  about  the 
desired  interview.  But  although  this  thought  was 
encouraging,  he  could  not  but  tremble  when  he  re 
membered  the  very  plain  and  unvarnished  way  she 
had  of  doing  such  things. 

While  these  thoughts  were  passing  through  his 
mind,  a  lady  came  out  upon  the  porch,  and  de 
scended  the  steps.  At  the  first  sight  of  her  through 
the  vines,  Lawrence  had  thought  it  might  be  Miss 
March,  and  his  heart  had  given  a  jump.  But  it  was 
not ;  it  was  Mrs  Null,  and  she  came  over  the  grass 
toward  him,  and  stopped  in  front  of  his  door. 
"  How  are  you  feeling  now  ?  "  she  asked.  "  Does 
your  foot  still  hurt  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  am  in  no  pain.  The 
only  thing  that  troubles  me  is  that  I  have  to  stay 
just  here." 

"  It  might  have  been  better  on  some  accounts," 
said  she,  "  if  you  had  been  taken  into  the  house ;  but 
it  would  have  hurt  you  dreadfully  to  go  up  stairs, 
unless  Uncle  Isham  carried  you  on  his  back,  which 
I  don't  believe  he  could  do." 

"  Of  course  it's  a  great  deal  better  out  here,"  said 
Lawrence.  "  In  fact  this  is  a  perfectly  charming  place 
to  be  laid  up  in,  but  I  want  to  get  about.  I  want 
to  see  people." 


248  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  Many  people  ? "  asked  she,  with  a  significant 
little  smile. 

Lawrence  smiled  in  return.  "  You  must  know, 
Mrs  Null,  from  what  I  have  told  you/'  he  said, 
"  that  there  is  one  person  I  want  to  see  very  much, 
and  that  is  why  I  am  so  annoyed  at  being  kept  here 
in  this  chair." 

"You  must  be  of  an  uncommonly  impatient  turn 
of  mind,"  she  said,  "  for  you  haven't  been  here  three 
hours,  altogether,  and  hundreds  of  persons  sit  still 
that  long,  just  because  they  want  to." 

"  I  don't  want  to  sit  still  a  minute,"  said  Lawrence. 
"  I  very  much  wish  to  speak  to  Miss  March. 
Couldn't  you  contrive  an  opportunity  for  me  to  do 
so?" 

u  It  is  possible  that  I  might,"  she  said,  "  but  I 
won't.  Haven't  I  told  you  that  I  don't  approve  of 
this  affair  of  yours  ?  My  cousin  is  in  love  wkh  Miss 
March,  and  all  I  should  do  for  you  would  be  di 
rectly  against  him.  Aunt  so  managed  things  this 
morning  that  I  was  actually  obliged  to  give  you  an 
opportunity  to  be  with  her,  but  I  had  intended 
going  with  Roberta  to  the  woods,  as  she  had  asked 
me  to  do." 

"  You  are  very  cruel,"  said  Lawrence. 

"  No,  I  am  not,"  said  she,  "  I  am  only  just." 

"  I  explained  to  you  yesterday,"  said  he,  "  that 
your  course  of  thinking  and  acting  is  not  just,  and  is 
of  no  possible  advantage  to  anybody.  How  can  it 
injure  your  cousin  if  Miss  March  refuses  me  and  I 
go  away  and  never  see  her  again  ?  And,  if  she  ac- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  249 

cepts  me,  then  you  should  be  glad  that  I  had  put  an 
end  to  your  cousin's  pursuit  of  a  woman  who  does 
not  love  him." 

"  That  is  nonsense,"  said  she.  "  I  shouldn't  be 
glad  at  all  to  see  him  disappointed.  I  should  feel 
like  a  traitor  if  I  helped  you.  But  I  did  not  come 
to  talk  about  these  things.  I  came  to  ask  you  what 
you  would  have  for  dinner." 

"  I  had  an  idea,"  said  Lawrence,  not  regarding 
this  remark,  "  that  you  were  a  young  lady  of  a 
kindly  disposition." 

"  And  you  don't  think  so,  now  ?  "  she  said. 

"  No,"  answered  Lawrence,  "  I  cannot.  I  cannot 
think  a  woman  kind  who  will  refuse  to  assist  a 
man,  situated  as  I  am,  to  settle  the  most  important 
question  of  his  life,  especially  as  I  have  told  you,  be 
fore,  that  it  is  really  to  the  interest  of  the  one  you 
are  acting  for,  that  it  should  be  settled." 

Miss  Annie,  still  standing  in  front  of  the  door,  now 
regarded  Lawrence  with  a  certain  degree  of  thought- 
fullness  on  her  countenance,  which  presently  changed 
to  a  half  smile.  "  If  I  were  perfectly  sure,"  she 
said,  "  that  she  would  reject  you,  I  would  try  to  get 
her  here,  and  have  the  matter  settled,  but  I  don't 
know  her  very  well  yet,  and  can't  feel  at  all  certain 
as  to  what  she  might  do. 

"  I  like  your  frankness,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but,  as 
I  said  before,  you  are  very  cruel." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  she,  "  I  am  very  kind,  only— 

"  You  don't  show  it,"  interrupted  Lawrence. 

At  this  Miss  Annie  laughed.     "  Kindness  isn't  of 


250  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

much  use,  if  it  is  shut  up,  is  it  ?  "  she  said.  "  I  sup 
pose  you  think  it  is  one  of  those  virtues  that  we 
ought  to  act  out,  as  well  as  feel,  if  we  want  any  credit. 
And  now,  isn't  there  something  I  can  do  for  you 
besides  bringing  another  man's  sweetheart  to  you  ?  " 

Lawrence  smiled.  "  I  don't  believe  she  is  his 
sweetheart,"  he  said,  "  and  I  want  to  find  out  if  I 
am  right." 

"  It  is  my  opinion,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "  that  you 
ought  to  think  more  about  your  sprained  ankle  and 
your  general  health,  than  about  having  your  mind 
settled  by  Miss  March.  I  should  think  that  keep 
ing  your  blood  boiling,  in  this  way,  would  inflame 
your  joints." 

"  The  doctor  didn't  tell  me  what  to  think  about," 
said  Lawrence.  "  He  only  said  I  must  not  walk." 

"  I  haven't  heard  yet,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "  what 
you  would  like  to  have  to  eat." 

"  I  don't  wish  to  give  the  slightest  trouble,"  an 
swered  Lawrence.  "  What  do  you  generally  give 
people  in  such  scrapes  as  this  ?  Tea  and  toast  ?  " 

Annie  laughed.  "  Nonsense,"  said  she.  "  What 
you  want  is  the  best  meal  you  can  get.  Aunt 
said  if  there  was  anything  you  particularly  liked 
she  would  have  it  made  for  you." 

"  Do  not  think  of  such  a  thing,"  said  Lawrence. 
"  Give  me  just  what  the  family  has." 

"Would  you  like  Miss  March  to  bring  it  out  to 
you  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  The  word  cruel  cannot  express  your  disposition," 
said  Lawrence.  "  I  pity  Mr  Null." 


The  Late  Mrs  NulL  251 

"  Poor  man,"  said  she  ;  "  but  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  for  you  if  you  could  keep  your  mind  as  quiet 
as  his  is."  And  with  that  she  went  into  the  house. 

After  dinner,  Miss  March  did  come  out  to  inquire 
into  Mr.  Croft's  condition,  but  she  was  accompanied 
by  Mrs  Keswick.  Lawrence  invited  the  ladies  to 
come  in  and  be  seated,  but  Roberta  stood  on  the 
grass  in  front  of  the  door,  as  Miss  Annie  had  done, 
while  Mrs  Keswick  entered  the  room,  looked  into 
the  ice-water  pitcher,  and  examined  things  generally, 
to  see  if  Uncle  Isham  had  been  guilty  of  any  sins  of 
omission. 

"  Do  you  feel  quite  at  ease  now  ?  "  said  Miss  March. 

"  My  ankle  don't  trouble  me,"  said  Lawrence, 
"  but  I  never  felt  so  uncomfortable  and  dissatisfied 
in  my  life."  And  with  these  latter  words  he  gave 
the  lady  a  look  which  was  intended  to  be,  and  which 
probably  was,  full  of  meaning  to  her. 

"  Wouldn't  you  like  some  books?"  said  Mrs  Kes 
wick,  now  appearing  from  the  back  of  the  room. 
"  You  haven't  anything  to  read.  There  are  plenty 
of  books  in  the  house,  but  they  are  all  old." 

"  I  think  those  are  the  most  delightful  of  books," 
said  Miss  March.  "  I  have  been  looking  over  the 
volumes  on  your  shelves,  Mrs  Keswick.  I  am  sure 
there  are  a  good  many  of  them  Mr  Croft  would  like 
to  read,  even  if  he  has  read  them  before.  There  are 
lots  of  queer  old-time  histories  and  biographies,  and 
sets  of  bound  magazines,  some  of  them  over  a  hun 
dred  years  old.  Would  you  like  me  to  select  some 
for  you,  Mr  Croft  ?  Or  shall  I  write  some  of  the 


252  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

titles  on  a  slip  of  paper,  and  let  you  select  for  your 
self?" 

"  I  shall  be  delighted,"  said  Lawrence,  "  to  have 
you  make  a  choice  for  me  ;  and  I  think  the  list 
would  be  the  better  plan,  because  books  would  be  so 
heavy  to  carry  about." 

"  I  will  do  it  immediately,"  said  Miss  March,  and 
she  walked  rapidly  to  the  house. 

"  Now  then,"  said  Mrs  Keswick,  "  I'll  put  a  chair 
out  here  on  the  grass,  close  to  the  door.  It's  shady 
there,  and  I  should  think  it  would  be  pleasant  for 
both  of  you,  if  she  would  sit  there  and  read  to  you 
out  of  those  books.  She  is  a  fine  woman,  that  Miss 
March — a  much  finer  woman  than  I  thought  she 
could  be,  before  I  knew  her." 

"She  is,  indeed,"  said  Lawrence. 

"I  suppose  you  think  she  is  the  finest  woman  in 
the  world  ?  "  said  the  old  lady,  with  a  genial  grin. 

"  What  makes  you  suppose  so  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"  Haven't  I  eyes  ?  "  said  Mrs  Keswick.  "  But  you 
needn't  make  any  excuses.  You  have  made  an  ex 
cellent  choice,  and  I  hope  you  may  succeed  in  get 
ting  her.  Perhaps  you  have  succeeded  ?  "  she  added, 
giving  Lawrence  an  earnest  look,  with  a  question  in 
it. 

Lawrence  did  not  immediately  reply.  It  was  not 
in  his  nature  to  confide  his  affairs  to  other  people, 
and  yet  he  had  done  so  much  of  it,  of  late,  that  he 
did  not  see  why  he  should  make  an  exception 
against  Mrs  Keswick,  who  was,  indeed,  the  only  per 
son  who  seemed  inclined  to  be  friendly  to  his  suit. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  253 

He  might  as  well  let  her  know  how  matters  stood. 
"  No,"  he  said,  "  I  have  not  yet  succeeded,  and  I  am 
very  sorry  that  this  accident  has  interfered  with  my 
efforts  to  do  so." 

"  Don't  let  it  interfere,"  said  the  old  lady,  her  eyes 
sparkling,  while  her  purple  sun-bonnet  was  suddenly 
and  severely  bobbed.  "  You  have  just  as  good  a 
chance  now  as  you  ever  had,  and  all  you  have  to  do 
is  to  make  the  most  of  it.  When  she  comes  out 
here  to  read  to  you,  you  can  talk  to  her  just  as 
well  as  if  you  were  in  the  woods,  or  on  top  of  a  hill. 
Nobody'll  come  here  to  disturb  you  ;  I'll  take  care 
of  that." 

"  You  are  very  kind,"  said  Lawrence,  somewhat 
wondering  at  her  enthusiasm. 

"  I  intended  to  go  away  and  leave  her  here  with 
you,"  continued  Mrs  Keswick,  "  if  I  could  find  a  good 
opportunity  to  do  so,  but  she  hit  on  the  best  plan 
herself.  And  now  I'll  be  off  and  leave  the  coast 
clear.  I  will  come  again  before  dark  and  put  some 
more  of  that  stuff  on  your  ankle.  If  you  want  any 
thing,  ring  this  bell,  and  if  Isham  doesn't  hear  you, 
somebody  will  call  him.  He  has  orders  to  keep  about 
the  house." 

"  You  are  putting  me  under  very  great  obligations 
to  you,  madam,"  said  Lawrence. 

But  the  old  lady  did  not  stop  to  hear  any  thanks, 
and  hastened  to  clear  the  coast. 

Lawrence  had  to  wait  a  long  time  for  his  list  of 
books,  but  at  last  it  came  ;  and,  much  to  his  surprise 
and  chagrin,  Mrs  Null  brought  it.  "  Miss  March 


254  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

asked  me  to  give  you  this/'  she  said,  "  so  that  you 
can  pick  out  just  what  books  you  want." 

Lawrence  took  the  paper,  but  did  not  look  at  it. 
He  was  deeply  disappointed  and  hurt.  His  whole 
appearance  showed  it. 

"You  don't  seem  glad  to  get  it,"  said  Miss  Annie. 

Lawrence  looked  at  her,  his  face  darkening.  "  Did 
you  persuade  Miss  March,"  he  said,  "  to  stay  in  the 
house  and  let  you  bring  this?" 

"  Now,  Mr  Croft,"  said  the  young  lady,  a  very  de 
cided  flush  coming  into  her  face,  "  that  is  going  too 
far.  You  have  no  right  to  accuse  me  of  such  a  thing. 
I  am  not  going  to  help  in  your  love  affairs,  but  I 
don't  intend  to  be  mean  about  it,  either.  Miss  March 
asked  me  to  bring  that  list,  and  at  first  I  wouldn't 
do  it,  for  I  knew,  just  as  well  as  I  know  anything, 
that  you  expected  her  to  come  to  you  with  it,  and  I 
was  very  sure  you  wanted  to  see  her  more  than  the 
paper.  I  refused  two  or  three  times,  but  she  said,  at 
last,  that  if  I  didn't  take  it,  she'd  send  it  by  some 
one  in  the  house  ;  so  I  just  picked  it  up  and  brought 
it  right  along.  I  don't  like  her  as  much  as  I  did." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"  You  needn't  accept  a  man  if  you  don't  want 
him,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "but  there  is  no  need  of 
being  cruel  to  him,  especially  when  he  is  laid  up. 
If  she  didn't  intend  to  come  out  to  you  again,  she 
ought  not  to  have  made  you  believe  so.  You  did 
expect  her  to  come,  didn't  you  ?" 

"  Most  certainly,"  said  Lawrence,  in  rather  a  dole 
ful  tone. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  255 

"  Yes,  and  there  is  the  chair  she  was  to  sit  in/* 
said  Miss  Annie,  "while  you  said  seven  words  about 
the  books  and  ten  thousand  about  the  way  your 
heart  was  throbbing.  I  see  Aunt  Keswick's  hand 
in  that,  as  plain  as  can  be.  I  don't  say  I'd  put  her 
in  that  chair  if  I  could  do  it,  but  I  certainly  am 
sorry  she  disappointed  you  so.  Would  you  like 
to  have  any  of  those  books?  If  you  would,  I'll 
get  them  for  you." 

"  I  am  much  obliged,  Mrs  Null,"  said  Lawrence, 
"  but  I  don't  think  I  care  for  any  books.  And  let 
me  say  that  I  am  very  sorry  for  the  way  I  spoke 
to  you,  just  now." 

"Oh,  don't  mention  that,  '  said  she.  "  If  I'd  been 
in  your  place,  I  should  ha\e  been  mad  enough  to 
say  anything.  But  it's  no  use  to  sit  here  and  be 
grumpy.  You'd  better  let  me  go  and  get  you  a 
book.  The  "  Critical  Magazine"  for  1767  and  1768, 
is  on  that  list,  and  I  know  there  are  lots  of  queer, 
interesting  things  in  it,  but  it  takes  a  good  while 
to  hunt  them  out  from  the  other  things  for  which 
you  would  not  care  at  all.  And  then  there  are  all  the 
"  Spectators,"  and  "  Ramblers,"  and  "  The  World 
Displayed"  in  eight  volumes,  which,  from  what  I 
saw  when  I  looked  through  it,  seems  to  be  a  dif 
ferent  kind  of  world  from  the  one  I  live  in ;  and 
there  are  others  that  you  will  see  on  your  list.  But 
there  is  one  book  which  I  have  been  reading  lately 
which  I  think  you  will  find  odder  and  funnier  than 
any  of  the  rest.  It  is  the  "  Geographical  Grammar  " 
by  Mr  Salmon.  Suppose  I  bring  you  that.  It  is  a 


256  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

description  of  the  whole  world,  written  more  than 
a  hundred  years  ago,  by  an  Irish  gentleman  who,  I 
think,  never  went  anywhere." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  shall  be  obliged 
to  you  if  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  bring  me  that 
one."  He  was  glad  for  her  to  go  away,  even  for  a 
little  time,  that  he  might  think.  The  smart  of  the 
disappointment  caused  by  the  non-appearance  of 
Miss  March  was  beginning  to  subside  a  little.  Look 
ing  at  it  more  quietly  and  reasonably,  he  could  see 
that,  in  her  position,  it  would  be  actually  unmaidenly 
for  her  to  come  to  him  by  herself.  It  was  altogether 
another  thing  for  this  other  girl,  and,  therefore, 
perhaps  it  was  quite  proper  to  send  her.  But,  in 
spite  of  whatever  reasonableness  there  might  have 
been  in  it,  he  chafed  under  this  propriety.  It  would 
have  been  far  better,  he  thought,  if  she  had  come 
and  told  him  that  she  could  not  possibly  accept  him, 
and  that  nothing  more  must  be  said  about  it.  But 
then  he  did  not  believe,  if  she  had  given  him  time 
to  say  the  words  he  wished  to  say,  that  she  would 
have  come  to  such  a  decision  ;  and  as  he  called  up 
her  lovely  face  and  figure,  as  it  stood  framed  in  the 
open  doorway,  with  a  background  of  the  sunlit 
arbor  and  fields,  the  gorgeous  distant  foliage,  with 
the  blue  sky  and  its  white  clouds  and  circling 
birds,  he  thought  of  the  rapture  and  ecstacy  which 
would  have  come  to  him,  if  she  had  listened  to  his 
words,  and  had  given  him  but  a  smile  of  encourage 
ment. 

But  here  came   Mrs  Null,  with  a  fat  brown  book 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  257 

in  her  hand.  "  One  of  the  funniest  things,"  she 
said,  as  she  came  to  the  door,  "  is  Mr  Salmon's 
chapter  on  paradoxes.  He  thinks  it  would  be 
quite  improper  to  issue  a  book  of  this  kind  without 
alluding  to  geographical  paradoxes.  Listen  to  this 
one."  And  then  she  read  to  him  the  elucidation  of 
the  apparent  paradox  that  there  is  a  certain  place 
in  this  world  where  the  wind  always  blows  from 
the  south  ;  and  another  explaining  the  statement 
that  in  certain  cannibal  islands  the  people  eat  them 
selves.  "  There  is  something  he  says  about  Vir 
ginia,"  said  she,  turning  over  the  pages,  "which  I 
want  you  to  be  sure  to  read." 

"  Won't  you  sit  down,"  said  Lawrence,  "  and  read 
to  me  some  of  those  extracts?  You  know  just 
where  to  find  them." 

"  That  chair  wasn't  put  there  for  me,"  said  Miss 
Annie,  with  a  smile. 

"  Nonsense,"  said  Lawrence.  "  Won't  you  please 
sit  down  ?  I  ought  to  have  asked  you  before.  Per 
haps  it  is  too  cool  for  you,  out  there." 

"  Oh,  not  at  all,"  said  she.  "  The  air  is  still  quite 
warm."  And  she  took  her  seat  on  the  chair  which 
was  placed  close  to  the  door-step,  and  she  read  to 
him  some  of  the  surprising  and  interesting  facts 
which  Mr  Salmon  had  heard,  in  a  Dublin  coffee 
house,  about  Virginia  and  the  other  colonies,  and  also 
some  of  those  relating  to  the  kindly  way  in  which 
slave-holders  in  South  America,  when  they  killed 
a  slave  to  feed  their  hounds,  would  send  a  quarter 
to  a  neighbor,  expecting  some  day  to  receive  a 
17 


258  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

similar  favor  in  return.  When  they  had  laughed 
over  these,  she  read  some  very  odd  and  surprising 
statements  about  Southern  Europe,  and  the  people 
of  far-away  lands  ;  and  so  she  went  on,  from  one 
thing  to  another,  talking  a  good  deal  about  what 
she  had  read,  and  always  on  the  point  of  stopping 
and  giving  the  book  to  Lawrence,  until  the  short 
autumnal  afternoon  began  to  draw  to  its  close, 
and  he  told  her  that  it  was  growing  too  chilly 
for  her  to  sit  out  on  the  grass  any  longer. 

"  Very  well,"  said  she,  closing  the  book,  and  hand 
ing  it  to  him,  "  you  can  read  the  rest  of  it  yourself, 
and  if  you  want  any  other  books  on  the  list,  just  let 
me  know  by  Uncle  Isham,  and  I  will  send  them  to 
you.  He  is  coming  now  to  see  after  you.  I  won 
der,"  she  said,  stopping  for  a  moment  as  she  turned 
to  leave,  "  if  Miss  March  had  been  sitting  in  that 
chair,  if  you  wrould  have  had  the  heart  to  tell  her  to 
go  away;  or  if  you  would  have  let  her  sit  still,  and 
take  cold." 

Lawrence  smiled,  but  very  slightly.  "  That  sub 
ject,"  said  he,  "  is  one  on  which  I  don't  joke." 

"Goodness!"  exclaimed  Miss  Annie,  clasping  her 
hands  and  gazing  with  an  air  of  comical  commis 
eration  at  Mr  Croft's  serious  face.  "  I  should  think 
not !  "  and  away  she  went. 

Just  before  supper  time,  when  Lawrence's  door 
had  been  closed,  and  his  lamp  lighted,  there  came  a 
knock,  and  Mrs  Keswick  appeared.  "  That  plan  of 
mine  didn't  \vork,"  she  said,  "  but  I  will  bring  Miss 
March  out  here,  and  manage  it  so  that  she'll  have  to 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  259 

stay  till  I  come  back.  I  have  an  idea  about  that. 
All  that  you  have  to  do  is  to  be  ready  when  you  get 
your  chance." 

Lawrence  thanked  her,  and  assured  her  he  would 
be  very  glad  to  have  a  chance,  although  he  hoped, 
without  much  ground  for  it,  that  Roberta  would  not 
see  through  the  old  lady's  schemes. 

Mrs  Keswick  lotioned  and  rebandaged  the 
sprained  ankle,  and  then  she  said.  "  I  think  it  would 
be  pleasant  if  we  were  all  to  come  out  here  after 
supper,  and  have  a  game  of  whist.  I  used  to  play 
whist,  and  shouldn't  mind  taking  a  hand.  You  could 
have  the  table  drawn  up  to  your  chair,  and, — let 
me  see — yes,  there  are  three  more  chairs.  It  won't 
be  like  having  her  alone  with  you,"  she  said,  with  the 
cordial  grin  in  which  she  sometimes  indulged,  "  but 
you  will  have  her  opposite  to  you  for  an  hour,  and 
that  will  be  something." 

Lawrence  approved  heartily  of  the  whist  party, 
and  assured  Mrs  Keswick  that  she  was  his  guardian 
angel. 

"  Not  much  of  that,"  she  said,  "  but  I  have  been 
told  often  enough  that  I'm  a  regular  old  match 
maker,  and  I  expect  I  am." 

"If  you  make  this  match,"  said  Lawrence,  "you 
will  have  my  eternal  gratitude." 

The  supper  sent  out  to  Lawrence  wras  a  very 
good  one,  and  the  anticipation  of  what  was  to  fol 
low  made  him  enjoy  it  still  more,  for  his  passion 
had  now  reached  such  a  point  that  even  to  look  at 
his  love,  although  he  could  only  speak  to  her  of 


260  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

trumps  and  of  tricks,  would  be  a  refreshing  solace 
which  would  go  down  deep  into  his  thirsty  soul. 

But  bedtime  and  old  Isham  came,  and  the  whist 
players  came  not.  It  needed  no  one  to  tell  Law 
rence  whose  disinclination  it  was  that  had  pre 
vented  their  coming. 

"  I  reckon,"  said  Uncle  Isham,  as  he  looked  in  at 
Letty's  cabin  on  his  way  to  his  own,  "  dat  dat  ar 
Mister  Crof  aint  much  use  to  gittin'  hisse'f  hurt. 
All  de  time  I  was  helpin'  him  to  go  to  bed  he  was 
a  growlin*  like  de  bery  debbil." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

ALTHOUGH  October  in  Southern  Virginia  can 
generally  be  counted  upon  as  a  very  charming 
month,  it  must  not  be  expected  that  her  face  will 
wear  one  continuous  smile.  On  the  day  after  Law 
rence  Croft's  misadventure  the  sky  was  gray  with 
low-hanging  clouds,  there  was  a  disagreeable  wind 
from  the  north-east,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  the 
slight  drizzle  of  rain.  The  morning  was  so  cool  that 
Lawrence  was  obliged  to  keep  his  door  shut,  and 
Uncle  Isham  had  made  him  a  small  wood  fire  on 
the  hearth.  As  he  sat  before  this  fire,  after  break 
fast,  his  foot  still  upon  a  stool,  and  vigorously 
puffed  at  a  cigar,  he  said  to  himself  that  it  mat 
tered  very  little  to  him  whether  the  sun  shone,  or 
all  the  rains  of  heaven  descended,  so  long  as  Roberta 
March  would  not  come  out  to  him  ;  and  that  she 
did  not  intend  to  come,  rain  or  shine,  was  just  as 
plain  as  the  marks  on  the  sides  of  the  fireplace, 
probably  made  by  the  heels  of  Mr  Junius  Keswick 
during  many  a  long,  reflective  smoke. 

On  second  thoughts,  however,  Lawrence  concluded 
that  a  rainy  day  was  worse  for  his  prospects  than  a 
bright  one.  If  the  sun  shone,  and  everything  was 
fair.  Miss  March  might  come  across  the  grassy  yard 
and  might  possibly  stop  before  his  open  door  to  bid 


262  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

him  good  morning,  and  to  tell  him  that  she  was 
sorry  that  a  headache  had  prevented  her  from  coming 
to  play  whist  the  evening  before.  But  this  last,  he 
presently  admitted,  was  rather  too  much  to  expect, 
for  he  did  not  think  shj  was  subject  to  headaches, 
or  to  making  excuses.  At  any  rate  he  might  have 
caught  sight  of  her,  and  if  he  had,  he  certainly  would 
have  called  to  her,  and  would  have  had  his  say 
with  her,  even  had  she  persisted  in  standing  six 
feet  from  the  door-step.  But  now  this  dreary  day 
had  shut  his  door  and  put  an  interdict  upon  strolls 
across  the  grass.  Therefore  it  was  that  he  must 
resign  any  opportunity,  for  that  day,  at  least,  of 
soothing  the  harrowing  perturbations  of  his  passion 
by  either  the  comforting  warmth  of  hope,  or  by 
the  deadening  frigidity  of  a  consummated  despair. 
This  last,  in  truth,  he  did  not  expect,  but  still,  if  it 
came,  it  would  be  better  than  perturbations  ;  they 
must  be  soothed  at  any  cost.  But  how  to  incur  this 
cost  was  a  difficult  question  altogether.  So,  puffing, 
gazing  into  the  fire,  and  knitting  his  brows,  he  sat 
and  thought. 

As  a  good-looking  young  man,  as  a  well-dressed 
young  man,  as  an  educated  and  cultured  man,  as  a 
man  of  the  clubs,  and  of  society,  and,  when  occasion 
required,  as  a  very  sensible  man  of  business,  Mr  Croft 
might  be  looked  upon  as  essentially  a  commonplace 
personage,  and  in  our  walks  abroad  we  meet  a  great 
many  like  him.  But  there  dwelt  within  him  a  cer 
tain  disposition,  which,  at  times,  removed  him  to 
quite  a  distance  from  the  arena  in  which  common- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  263 

place  people  go  through  their  prescribed  perform 
ances.  He  would  come  to  a  determination,  gener 
ally  quite  suddenly,  to  attain  a  desired  end  in  his 
own  way,  without  any  reference  to  traditionary  or 
conventional  methods ;  and  the  more  original  and 
startling  these  plans  the  better  he  liked  it. 

This  disposition  it  was  which  made  Lawrence  read 
with  so  much  interest  the  account  of  the  defeated 
general  who  made  the  cavalry  charge  into  the  camp 
of  his  victorious  enemy.  Defeat  had  been  his,  all 
through  his  short  campaign,  and  it  now  seemed  that 
the  time  had  come  to  make  another  bold  effort  to 
get  the  better  of  his  bad  luck.  As  he  could  not  woo 
Miss  March  himself,  he  must  get  some  one  else  to 
do  it  for  him,  or,  if  not  actually  to  woo  the  lady,  to 
get  her  at  least  into  such  a  frame  of  mind  that  she 
would  allow  him  to  woo  her,  even  in  spite  of  his 
present  disadvantages.  This  would  be  a  very  bold 
stroke,  but  Lawrence  put  a  good  deal  of  faith  in  it. 

If  Miss  March  were  properly  talked  to  by  one  of 
her  own  sex,  she  might  see;  as  perhaps  she  did  not 
now  see,  how  cruel  was  her  line  of  conduct  toward 
him,  and  might  be  persuaded  to  relent,  at  least 
enough  to  allow  his  voice  to  reach  her  ;  and  that  was 
all  he  asked  for.  He  had  not  the  slightest  doubt 
that  the  widow  Keswick  would  gladly  consent  to 
carry  any  message  he  chose  to  send  to  Miss  March, 
and,  more  than  that,  to  throw  all  the  force  of  her 
peculiar  style  of  persuasion  into  the  support  of  his 
cause.  But  this,  he  knew  very  well,  would  finish 
the  affair,  and  not  at  all  in  the  way  he  desired.  The 


264  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

person  he  wanted  to  act  as  his  envoy  was  Mrs  Null. 
To  be  sure,  she  had  refused  to  act  for  him,  but  he 
thought  he  could  persuade  her.  She  was  quiet,  she 
was  sensible,  and  could  talk  very  gently  and  confid 
ingly  when  she  chose  ;  she  would  say  just  what  he 
told  her  to  say,  and  if  a  contingency  demanded  that 
she  should  add  anything,  she  would  probably  do  it 
very  prudently.  But  then  it  would  be  almost  as  dif 
ficult  to  communicate  with  her  as  with  Miss  March. 

While  he  was  thus  thinking,  in  came  the  old  lady, 
very  cross.  "  You  didn't  get  any  rubber  of  whist 
last  night,  did  you  ?  "  said  she,  without  salutatory 
preface.  "  But  I  can  tell  you  it  wasn't  my  fault.  I 
did  all  that  I  could,  and  more  than  I  ought,  to 
make  her  come,  but  she  just  put  her  foot  down  and 
wouldn't  stir  an  inch,  and  at  last  I  got  mad  and  went 
to  bed.  I  don't  know  whether  she  saw  it  or  not,  but 
I  was  as  mad  as  hops ;  and  I  am  that  way  yet.  I 
had  a  plan  that  would  have  given  you  a  chance  to 
talk  to  her,  but  that  ain't  any  good,  now  that  it  is 
raining.  Let  me  look  at  your  ankle ;  I  hope  that 
is  getting  along  all  right,  any  way." 

While  the  old  lady  was  engaged  in  ministering  to 
his  needs,  he  told  her  of  his  plan.  He  said  he 
wished  to  send  a  message  to  Miss  March  by  some 
one,  and  if  he  could  get  the  message  properly  deliv 
ered,  it  would  help  him  very  much. 

"I'll  take  it,"  said  she,  looking  up  suddenly  from 
the  piece  of  soft,  old  linen  she  was  folding;  "  I'll  go 
to  her  this  very  minute,  and  tell  her  just  what  you 
want  me  to." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  265 

"  Mrs  Keswick,"  said  Lawrence,  "  you  are  as  kind 
as  you  can  possibly  be,  but  I  do  not  think  it  would 
be  right  for  you  to  go  on  an  errand  like  this.  Miss 
March  might  not  receive  you  well,  and  that  would 
annoy  me  very  much.  And,  besides,  to  speak  frankly, 
you  have  taken  up  my  cause  so  warmly,  and  have 
been  such  a  good  friend  to  me,  that  I  am  afraid  your 
earnest  desire  to  assist  me .  might  perhaps  carry  you 
a  little  too  far.  Please  do  not  misunderstand  me. 
I  don't  mean  that  you  would  say  anything  impru 
dent,  but  as  you  are  kind  enough  to  say  that  you 
really  desire  this  match,  it  will  be  very  natural  for 
you  to  show  your  interest  in  it  to  a  degree  that  would 
arouse  Miss  March's  opposition." 

"  Yes,  I  see,"  said  the  old  lady,  reflectively,  "  she'd 
suspect  what  was  at  the  bottom  of  my  interest. 
She's  a  sharp  one.  I've  found  that  out.  I  reckon 
it  will  be  better  for  me  not  to  meddle  with  her.  I 
came  very  near  quarreling  with  her  last  night,  and 
that  wouldn't  do  at  all." 

"  You  see,  madam,"  said  Lawrence,  well  satisfied 
that  he  had  succeeded  in  warding  off  the  old  lady's 
offer  without  offending  her,  "  that  I  do  not  want  any 
one  to  go  to  Miss  March  and  make  a  proposal  for  me. 
I  could  do  that  in  a  letter.  But  I  very  much  object 
to  a  letter.  In  fact  it  wouldn't  do  at  all.  All  I  wish 
is,  that  some  one,  by  the  exercise  of  a  little  female 
diplomacy,  should  induce  her  to  let  me  speak  to  her. 
Now,  I  think  that  Mrs  Null  might  do  this,  very 
well." 

"  That  is  so,"  said  the  old  lady,  who,  having  now 


266  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

finished  her  bandaging,  was  seated  on  a  chair  by  the 
fireplace.  "  My  niece  is  smart  and  quick,  and  could 
do  this  thing  for  you  just  as  well  as  not.  But  she 
has  her  quips  and  her  cranks,  like  the  rest  of  us.  I 
called  her  out  of  the  room  last  night  to  know  why 
she  didn't  back  me  up  better  about  the  whist 
party,  and  she  said  she  couldn't  see  why  a  gentle 
man,  who  hadn't  been  confined  to  the  house  for  quite 
a  whole  day,  should  be  so  desperately  lonely  that 
people  must  go  to  his  room  to  play  whist  with 
him.  It  seemed  to  me  exactly  as  if  she  thought 
that  Mr  Null  wouldn't  like  it.  Mr  Null  indeed  ! 
As  if  his  wishes  and  desires  were  to  be  considered 
in  my  house !  I  never  mention  that  man  now,  and 
Annie  does  not  speak  of  him  either.  What  I  want 
is  that  he  shall  stay  away  just  as  long  as  he  will ;  and 
if  he  will  only  stay  away  long  enough  to  make  his 
absence  what  the  law  calls  desertion,  I'll  have  those 
two  divorced  before  they  know  it.  Can  you  tell  me, 
sir,  how  long  a  man  must  stay  away  from  his  wife 
before  he  can  be  legally  charged  with  desertion  ?" 

"No,  madam,  I  can  not,"  said  Lawrence.  "The 
laws,  I  believe,  differ  in  the  various  States." 

"Well,  I'm  going  to  make  it  my  business  to  find 
out  all  about  it,"  said  Mrs  Keswick.  "Mr  Brandon 
has  promised  to  attend  to  this  matter  for  me,  and 
I  must  write  to  him,  to  know  what  he  has  been 
doing.  Well,  Mrs  Null  and  Miss  March  seem  to  be 
very  good  friends,  and  I  dare  say  my  niece  could 
manage  things  so  as  to  give  you  the  chance  you 
want.  I'll  go  to  the  house  now,  and  send  her  over 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  267 

to  you,  so  that  you  can  tell  her  what  you  want  her 
to  say  or  do." 

"  Do  you  think  she  will  come,  madam  ?  "  asked 
Lawrence. 

The  old  lady  rose  to  her  feet,  and  knitted  her 
brows  until  something  like  a  perpendicular  mouth 
appeared  on  her  forehead.  "  No,"  said  she,  "  now  I 
come  to  think  of  it  I  don't  believe  she  will.  In  fact  I 
know  she  won't.  Bother  take  it  all,  sir !  What 
these  young  women  want  is  a  good  whipping.  Noth 
ing  else  will  ever  bring  them  to  their  senses. 
What  possible  difference  could  it  make  to  Mr  Null 
whether  she  came  to  you  and  took  a  message  for 
you,  or  whether  she  didn't  come  ;  especially  in  a 
case  like  this,  when  you  can't  walk,  or  go  to  any 
body  ?" 

"  I  don't  think  it  ought  to  make  any  difference 
whatever,"  said  Lawrence.  "  In  fact  I  don't  believe 
it  would." 

"  It's  no  use  talking  about  it,  Mr.  Croft,"  said  the 
old  lady,  moving  toward  the  door.  "  I  can  go  to 
my  niece  and  talk  to  her,  but  the  first  thing  I'd  know 
I'd  blaze  out  at  her,  and  then,  as  like  as  not,  she'd 
blaze  back  again,  and  then  the  next  thing  would  be 
that  she'd  pack  up  her  things  and  go  off  to  hunt  up 
her  fertilizer  agent.  And  that  mustn't  be.  I  don't 
want  to  get  myself  in  any  snarls,  just  now.  There 
is  nothing  for  you  to  do,  Mr  Croft,  but  to  wait  till 
it  clears  off,  so  that  dainty  young  woman  can  come 
out  of  doors,  and  then  I  think  I  can  manage  it  so 
that  you  can  get  a  chance  to  speak  to  her." 


268  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,"  said  Lawrence. 
"I  suppose  I  must  wait." 

"I'll  see  that  Isham  brings  you  a  lot  of  dry  hick 
ory,  so  that  you  can  have  a  cheerful  fire,  even  if  you 
can't  have  cheerful  company,"  said  Mrs  Keswick,  as 
she  closed  the  door  after  her. 

Lawrence  looked  thiough  the  window  at  the  sky, 
which  gave  no  promise  of  clearing.  And  then  he 
gazed  into  the  fire,  and  considered  his  case.  He  had 
spent  a  large  portion  of  his  life  in  considering  his 
case,  and,  therefore,  the  operation  was  a  familiar  one 
to  him.  This  time  the  case  was  not  a  satisfactory 
one.  Everything  in  this  love  affair  with  Miss  March 
had  gone  on  in  a  manner  in  which  he  had  not  in 
tended,  and  of  which  he  greatly  disapproved.  No 
one  in  the  world  could  have  planned  the  affair  more 
prudently  than  he  had  planned  it.  He  had  been 
so  careful  not  to  do  anything  rash,  that  he  had, 
at  first,  concealed,  even  from  the  lady  herself,  the 
fact  that  he  was  in  love  with  her,  and  nothing 
could  be  farther  from  his  thoughts  and  desires  than 
that  any  one  else  should  know  of  it.  And  yet,  how 
had  it  all  turned  out  ?  He  had  taken  into  his  con 
fidence  Mr  Junius  Keswick,  Mr  Brandon,  old  Mrs 
Keswick,  Mrs  Null,  as  she  wished  to  be  called,  and 
almost  lastly,  the  lady  herself.  "  If  I  should  lay 
bare  my  heart  to  the  colored  man,  Isham,"  he  said 
to  himself,  "and  the  old  centenarian  in  the  cabin 
down  there,  I  believe  there  would  be  no  one  else  to 
tell.  Oh,  yes,  there  is  Candy,  and  the  anti-detective. 
By  rights,  they  ought  to  know."  He  did  not  include 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  269 

the  good  little  Peggy  in  this  category,  because  he 
was  not  aware  that  there  was  such  a  person. 

After  about  an  hour  of  these  doleful  cogitations, 
he  again  turned  to  look  out  of  his  front  window, 
which  commanded  a  view  of  the  larger  house,  when 
he  saw,  coming  down  the  steps  of  the  porch,  a  not 
very  tall  figure,  wrapped  in  a  waterproof  cloak,  with 
the  hood  drawn  over  its  head.  He  did  not  see  the 
face  of  the  figure,  but  he  thought  from  the  light 
way  in  which  it  moved  that  it  was  Mrs  Null ;  and 
when  it  stepped  upon  the  grass  and  turned  its  head, 
he  saw  that  he  was  right. 

"  Can  her  aunt  have  induced  her  to  come  to  me?" 
was  Lawrence's  first  thought.  But  his  second  was 
very  different,  for  she  began  to  walk  toward  the 
large  gate  which  led  out  of  the  yard.  Instantly 
Lawrence  rose,  and  hopped  on  one  foot  to  the  win 
dow,  where  he  tapped  loudly  on  the  glass.  The 
lady  turned,  and  then  he  threw  up  the  sash. 

"  Won't  you  step  here,  please  ?"  he  called  out. 

Without  answering,  she  immediately  came  over 
the  wet  grass  to  the  window. 

"  I  have  something  to  say  to  you,"  he  said,  "  and 
I  don't  want  to  keep  you  standing  in  the  rain. 
Won't  you  come  inside  for  a  few  minutes?" 

"  No,  thank  you,"  said  she.  "  I  don't  mind  a 
slight  rain  like  this.  I  have  lived  so  long  in  the  city 
that  I  can't  imagine  how  country  people  can  bear  to 
shut  themselves  in,  when  it  happens  to  be  a  little 
wet.  I  can't  stand  it,  and  I  am  going  out  for  a 
walk." 


270  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  It  is  a  very  sensible  thing  to  do,"  said  Lawrence, 
*'  and  I  wish  I  could  go  with  you  and  have  a  good 
long  talk." 

"  What  about  ?  "  said  she. 

"  About  Miss  March." 

"  Well,  I  am  rather  tired  of  that  subject,"  she  said, 
"  and  so  I  reckon  it  is  just  as  well  that  you  should 
stay  here  by  your  fire — I  see  you  have  one  there — 
and  that  I  should  take  my  walk  by  myself." 

"  Mrs  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  want  to  implore 
you  to  do  a  favor  for  me.  I  don't  see  how  it  can  be 
disagreeable  to  you,  and  I  am  sure  it  will  confer  the 
greatest  possible  obligation  upon  me." 

<4  What  is  it  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  want  you  to  go  to  Miss  March,  and  endeavor, 
in  some  way — you  will  know  how,  better  than  I  can 
tell  you — to  induce  her  to  let  me  have  a  few  words 
with  her.  If  it  is  only  here  at  this  open  window  it 
will  do." 

Mrs  Null  laughed.  "  Imagine,"  she  said,  "a 
woman  putting  on  a  waterproof  and  overshoes,  and 
coming  out  in  the  rain,  to  stand  with  an  umbrella 
over  her  head,  to  be  proposed  to  !  That  would  be 
the  funniest  proceeding  I  ever  heard  of !" 

Lawrence  could  not  help  smiling,  though  he  was 
not  in  the  mood  for  it.  "  It  may  seem  amusing  to 
you,"  he  said,  "  but  I  am  very  much  in  earnest.  I 
am  in  constant  fear  that  she  will  go  away  while  I 
am  confined  to  this  house.  Do  you  know  how  long 
she  intends  to  stay  r*  " 

"  She  has  not  told  me,"  was  the  answer. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  271 

"  If  you  will  carry  it,"  he  said,  "  I  will  give  you  a 
message  for  her." 

"  Why  don't  you  write  it  ?  "  said  Miss  Annie. 

"I  don't  want  to  write  anything,"  he  said.  "I 
should  not  know  how  it  had  been  received,  nor 
would  it  be  likely  to  get  me  any  satisfaction.  I  want 
a  live,  sympathetic  medium,  such  as  you  are.  Won't 
you  do  this  favor  for  me  ?" 

"  No,  I  won't,"  said  Miss  Annie,  her  very  decided 
tone  appearing  to  give  a  shade  of  paleness  to  her 
features.  "  How  often  must  I  tell  you  that  I  will 
not  help  you  in  this  thing  ?  " 

"  I  would  not  ask  you,"  said  Lawrence,  "if  I  could 
help  myself." 

'•'  It  is  not  right  that  you  should  ask  me  any 
more,"  she  said.  "  I  am  not  in  favor  of  your  coming 
here  to  court  Miss  March,  while  my  cousin  is  away, 
and  I  should  feel  like  a  traitor  if  I  helped  you  at  all, 
especially  if  I  were  to  carry  messages  to  her.  Of 
course,  I  am  very  sorry  for  you,  shut  up  here,  and  I 
will  do  anything  I  can  to  make  you  more  comfortable 
and  contented  ;  but  what  you  ask  is  too  hard  for 
me."  And,  as  she  said  this,  a  little  air  of  trouble 
came  into  the  large  eyes  with  which  she  was  stead 
fastly  regarding  him.  "  I  don't  want  to  seem  unkind 
to  you,  and  I  wish  you  would  ask  me  something 
that  I  can  do  for  you.  I'll  walk  down  to  Hewlett's 
and  get  you  anything  you  may  like  to  have.  I'll 
bring  you  a  lot  of  novels  which  I  found  in  the  house, 
and  which  I  expect,  anyway,  you  will  like  better  than 
those  old-time  books.  And  I'll  cook  you  anything 


272  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

that  is  in  the  cook-book.  But  I  really  cannot  go 
wooing  for  you,  and  if  you  ask  me  to  do  that,  every 
time  I  come  near  you,  I  really  must " 

"  My  dear  Mrs  Null,"  interrupted  Lawrence,  "  I 
promise  not  to  say  any  more  to  you  on  this  subject. 
I  see  it  is  distasteful  to  you,  and  I  beg  your  pardon 
for  having  mentioned  it  so  often.  You  have  been 
very  kind  to  me,  indeed,  and  I  should  be  exceed 
ingly  sorry  to  do  anything  to  offend  you.  It  would 
be  very  bad  for  me  to  lose  one  of  my  friends,  now 
that  I  am  shut  up  in  this  box,  and  feel  so  very  de 
pendent." 

"  Oh,  indeed,"  said  Miss  Annie.  "  But  I  suppose 
if  you  were  able  to  step  around,  as  you  used  to  do, 
it  wouldn't  matter  whether  you  offended  me  or 
not." 

"  Mrs  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "  you  know  I  did  not 
mean  anything  like  that.  Do  you  intend  to  be 
angry  with  me,  no  matter  what  I  say?" 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  she  answered,  with  a  little  smile 
that  brought  back  to  her  face  that  warm  brightness 
which  had  grown  upon  it  since  she  had  come  down 
here.  "  I  haven't  the  least  wish  in  the  world  to  be 
angry  with  you,  and  I  promise  you  I  won't  be,  pro 
vided  you'll  stop  everlastingly  asking  me  to  go  about 
helping  you  to  make  love  to  people." 

Lawrence  laughed.  "  Very  good,"  said  he.  "  I 
have  promised  to  ask  nothing  more  of  that  sort. 
Let  us  shake  hands  on  it." 

He  stretched  his  hand  from  the  window,  and  Miss 
Annie  withdrew  from  the  folds  of  her  waterproof  a 


The  Late  Mrs  Nidi.  273 

very  soft  and  white  little  hand,  and  put  it  into  his. 
"  And  now  I  must  be  off,"  she  said.  "  Are  you  cer 
tain  you  don't  want  anything  from  the  store  at 
Hewlett's?" 

"  Surely,  you  are  not  going  as  far  as  that,"  he  said. 

"  Not  if  you  don't  want  anything,"  she  answered. 
"  Have  you  tobacco  enough  to  last  through  your 
imprisonment  ?  They  keep  it." 

"  Now,  miss,"  said  Lawrence ;  "  do  you  want  to 
make  me  angry  by  supposing  I  would  smoke  any 
tobacco  that  they  sell  in  that  country  store?" 

"  It  ought  to  be  better  than  any  other,"  said  Miss 
Annie.  "  They  grow  it  in  the  fields  all  about  here, 
and  the  storekeepers  can  get  it  perfectly  fresh  and 
pure,  and  a  great  deal  better  for  you,  no  doubt,  than 
the  stuff  they  manufacture  in  the  cities." 

"When  you  learn  to  smoke,"  said  Lawrence, 
"  your  opinion  concerning  tobacco  will  be  more 
valuable." 

" Thank  you,"  she  said,  "and  I  will  wait  till  then 
before  I  give  you  any  more  of  it.  Good  morning." 
And  away  she  went. 

Lawrence  shut  down  the  window,  and  hopped 
back  to  the  fire.  "  There  is  my  last  chance  gone," 
said  he  to  himself.  "  I  suppose  I  may  as  well  take 
old  Mrs  Keswick's  advice,  and  wait  for  fair  weather. 
But,  even  then,  who  can  say  what  sort  of  sky  Roberta 
March  will  show?"  And,  not  being  able  to  answer 
this  question,  he  put  two  fresh  sticks  on  the  fire,  and 
then  sedately  sat  and  watched  their  gradual  annihila 
tion. 

18 


274  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

As  for  Miss  Annie,  she  took  her  walk,  and  stepped 
along  the  road  as  lightly  and  blithely  as  if  the  skies 
had  been  blue,  and  the  sun  shining ;  and  almost 
before  she  knew  it,  she  had  reached  the  store  at 
Hewlett's.  Ascending  the  high  steps  to  the  porch, 
quite  deserted  on  this  damp,  unpleasant  morning, 
she  entered  the  store,  the  proprietor  of  which  imme 
diately  jumped  up  from  the  mackerel  kit  at  the 
extreme  end  of  the  room,  where  he  had  been  sitting 
in  converse  with  some  of  his  neighbors,  and  hurried 
behind  the  counter. 

"  Have  you  any  tea,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "  better 
than  the  kind  which  you  usually  sell  to  Mrs  Kes- 
wick?" 

"  No,  ma'am,"  said  he.  "  We  send  her  the  very 
best  tea  we  have." 

"I  am  not  rinding  fault  with  it,"  she  said,  "but 
I  thought  you  might  have  some  extra  kind,  more 
expensive  than  people  usually  buy  for  common 
use." 

"  No,  ma'am,"  said  he,  "  there  is  fancy  teas  of  that 
kind,  but  you'd  have  to  send  to  Philadelphia  or  New 
York  for  them." 

"  How  long  would  that  take?"  she  asked. 

"  I  reckon  it  would  be  four  or  five  days  before 
you'd  get  it,  ma'am,"  said  the  storekeeper. 

"  I  am  afraid,"  said  Miss  Annie,  looking  reflectively 
along  the  counter,  "  that  that  would  be  too  long." 
And  then  she  turned  to  go,  but  suddenly  stopped. 
"  Have  you  any  guava  jelly?"  she  asked. 

The  man  smiled.    "  We  don't  have  no  call  for  any- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  275 

thing  as  fancy  as  that,  ma'am,"  he  said.  "  Is  there 
anything  else  ?" 

"  Not  to-day,"  answered  Miss  Annie,  after  throw 
ing  a  despairing  glance  upon  the  rolls  of  calicoes, 
the  coils  of  clothes-lines,  the  battered  tin  boxes  of 
tea  and  sugar,  the  dusty  and  chimneyless  kerosene 
lamps,  and  the  long  rows  of  canned  goods  with  their 
gaudy  labels ;  and  then  she  departed. 

When  she  had  gone,  the  storekeeper  returned  to 
his  seat  on  the  mackerel  kit,  and  was  accosted  by  a 
pensive  neighbor  in  high  boots  who  sat  upon  the  up 
turned  end  of  a  case  of  brogans.  "  You  didn't  make 
no  sale  that  time,  Peckett,"  said  he. 

"  No,"  said  the  storekeeper,  "  her  idees  is  a  little 
too  fancy  for  our  stock  of  goods." 

"Whar's  her  husband,  anyway?"  asked  a  stout, 
elderly  man  in  linen  trousers  and  faded  alpaca  coat, 
who  was  seated  on  two  boxes  of  pearl  starch,  one  on 
top  of  the  other.  "  I've  heard  that  he  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  legislator'.  Is  that  so  ?  " 

"  He's  not  that,  you  can  take  my  word  for  it," 
said  Tom  Peckett.  "Old  Miss  Keswick  give  me  to 
understand  that  he  was  in  the  fertilizing  business." 

"  That  ought  to  be  a  good  thing  for  the  old  lady/* 
said  the  man  on  the  starch  boxes.  "  She'll  git  a  dis 
count  off  her  gwarner." 

"  I  never  did  see,"  said  the  pensive  neighbor  on 
the  brogan  case,  "  how  such  things  do  git  twisted. 
It  was  only  yesterday  that  I  met  a  man  at  Tyson's 
Mill,  who'd  just  come  over  from  the  Valley,  and  he 
said  he'd  seen  this  Mr  Noles  over  thar.  He's  a 


276  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

hoss  doctor,  and  he's  going  up  through  all  the  farms 
along  thar." 

"  I  reckon  when  he  gits  up  as  fur  as  he  wants  to 
go,"  said  the  man  on  the  starch  boxes,  "  he'll  come 
here  and  settle  fur  awhile." 

"That  won't  be  so  much  help  to  the  old  lady," 
said  the  storekeeper,  "  for  it  wouldn't  pay  to  keep 
a  neffy-in-law  just  to  doctor  one  sorrel  horse  and  a 
pa'r  o'  oxen." 

"  I  reckon  his  wife  must  be  'spectin'  him,"  said 
the  man  on  the  brogan  case,  "  from  her  comin'  after 
fancy  vittles." 

"  If  he  do  come,"  said  the  stout,  elderly  neighbor, 
"  I  wish  you'd  let  me  know,  Tom  Peckett,  fur  my 
black  mar  has  got  a  hitch  in  her  shoulder  I  can't 
understand,  and  I'd  like  him  to  look  at  her." 

The  storekeeper  smiled  at  the  pensive  man,  and 
the  pensive  man  smiled  back  at  the  storekeeper. 
"You  needn't  trouble  yourself  about  that  young 
woman's  husband,"  said  Mr  Peckett.  "  There'll  be 
a  horse  doctor  coming  along  afore  you  know  it, 
and  he'll  attend  to  that  old  mar  of  yourn  without 
chargin'  you  a  cent." 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

THE  second  afternoon  of  Lawrence  Croft's  con 
finement  in  the  little  building  in  Mrs  Keswick's  yard, 
passed  drearily  enough.  The  sky  retained  its  sombre 
covering  of  clouds,  and  the  rain  came  down  in  a 
melancholy,  capricious  way,  as  if  it  were  tears  shed 
by  a  child  who  was  crying  because  it  was  bad.  The 
monotony  of  the  slowly  moving  hdurs  was  broken 
only  by  a  very  brief  visit  from  the  old  lady,  who  was 
going  somewhere  in  the  covered  spring  wagon,  and 
who  looked  in,  before  she  started,  to  see  if  her  pa 
tient  wanted  anything ;  and  by  the  arrival  of  a 
bundle  of  old  novels  sent  by  Mrs  Null.  These 
books  Lawrence  looked  over  with  indifferent  in 
terest,  hoping  to  find  one  among  them  that  was 
not  a  love  story,  but  he  was  disappointed.  They 
were  all  based  upon,  and  most  of  them  permeated 
with,  the  tender  passion,  and  Lawrence  was  not  in 
the  mood  for  reading  about  that  sort  of  thing.  A 
person  afflicted  with  a  disease  is  not  apt  to  find 
agreeable  occupation  in  reading  hospital  reports 
upon  his  particular  ailment. 

The  novels  were  put  aside,  and  although  Lawrence 
felt  that  he  had  smoked  almost  too  much  during 
that  day,  he  was  about  to  light  another  cigar,  when 
he  heard  a  carriage  drive  into  the  yard.  Turning  to 


278  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

the  window  he  saw  a  barouche,  evidently  a  hired 
one,  drawn  by  a  pair  of  horses,  very  lean  and  bony, 
but  with  their  heads  reined  up  so  high  that  they 
had  an  appearance  of  considerable  spirit,  and  driven 
by  a  colored  man,  sitting  upon  a  very  elevated  seat, 
with  a  jaunty  air  and  a  well-worn  whip.  The  car 
riage  drove  over  the  grass  to  the  front  of  the  house 
— there  was  no  roadway  in  the  yard,  the  short,  crisp, 
tough  grass  having  long  resisted  the  occasional  action 
of  wheels  and  hoofs — and  there  stopping,  a  gentle 
man,  with  a  valise,  got  out.  He  paid  the  driver,  who 
immediately  turned  the  vehicle  about,  and  drove 
away.  The  gentleman  put  his  foot  upon  the  bottom 
step  as  if  he  were  about  to  ascend,  and  then,  appar 
ently  changing  his  mind,  he  picked  up  his  valise,  and 
came  directly  toward  the  office,  drawing  a  key  from 
his  pocket  as  he  walked.  It  was  Junius  Keswick, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  his  key  was  heard  in  the  lock. 
As  it  was  not  locked  the  key  merely  rattled,  and 
Lawrence  called  out  :  "  Come  in." 

The  door  opened,  and  Junius  looked  in,  evidently 
surprised.  "  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  he,  "  I  didn't 
know  you  were  in  here." 

"  Please  walk  in,"  said  Lawrence.  "  I  know  I  am 
occupying  your  room,  and  it  is  I  who  should  ask 
your  pardon.  But  you  see  the  reason  why  it  was 
thought  well  that  I  should  not  have  stairs  to  ascend." 
And  he  pointed  to  his  bandaged  foot. 

"  Have  you  hurt  yourself  ?  "  asked  Junius,  with 
an  air  of  concern. 

And  then  Lawrence  gave  an  account  of  his  acci- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  279 

dent,  expressing  at  the  same  time  his  regret  that  he 
found  himself  occupying  the  room  which  belonged 
to  the  other. 

"Oh,  don't  mention  that,"  said  Junius,  who  had 
taken  a  seat  near  the  window.  "  There  are  rooms 
enough  in  the  house,  and  I  shall  be  perfectly  com 
fortable.  It  was  quite  right  in  my  aunt  to  have  you 
brought  in  here,  and  I  should  have  insisted  upon  it, 
myself,  if  I  had  been  at  home.  I  expected  to  be 
away  for  a  week  or  more,  but  I  have  now  come  back 
on  account  of  your  letter." 

"  Does  that  need  explanation  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Junius.  "  I  had  no  difficulty  in 
understanding  it,  although  I  must  say  that  it  sur 
prised  me.  But  I  came  because  I  am  not  satisfied 
with  the  condition  of  things  here,  and  I  wish  to  be 
on  the  spot.  I  do  not  understand  why  you  and  Miss 
March  should  be  invited  here  during  my  absence." 

"  That  I  do  not  understand  either,"  said  Lawrence, 
quickly,  "  and  I  wish  to  impress  it  on  your  mind,  Mr 
Keswick,  that  when  I  came  here,  I  not  only  ex 
pected  to  find  you,  but  a  party  of  invited  guests.  I 
will  say,  however,  that  I  came  with  the  express  in 
tention  of  meeting  Miss  March,  and  having  that  in 
terview  with  her  which  I  could  not  have  in  her 
uncle's  house." 

"  I  was  not  entirely  correct,"  said  Junius,  "when 
I  said  that  I  did  not  know  why  these  rather  peculiar 
arrangements  had  been  made.  My  aunt  is  a  very 
managing  person,  and  I  think  I  perceive  her  purpose 
in  this  piece  of  management." 


28o  7^ he  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  She  is  opposed  to  a  marriage  between  you  and 
Miss  March?" 

"  Most  decidedly,"  said  Junius.  "  Has  she  told 
you  so? " 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but  it  has  gradually 
dawned  upon  me  that  such  is  the  case.  I  believe 
she  would  be  glad  to  have  Miss  March  married,  and 
out  of  your  way." 

Junius  made  no  answer  to  this  remark,  but  sat 
silent  for  a  few  moments.  Then  he  said :  "  Well, 
have  you  settled  it  with  Miss  March?" 

"  No,  I  have  not/'  said  Lawrence.  "  If  the  mat 
ter  had  been  decided,  one  way  or  the  other,  I  should 
not  be  here.  I  have  no  right  to  trespass  on  your 
aunt's  hospitality,  and  I  should  have  departed  as 
soon  as  I  had  discovered  Miss  March's  sentiments 
in  regard  to  me.  But  I  have  not  been  able  to  settle 
the  matter,  at  all.  I  had  one  opportunity  of  see 
ing  the  lady,  and  that  was  not  a  satisfactory  inter 
view.  Yesterday  morning,  I  made  another  attempt, 
but  before  I  could  get  to  her  I  sprained  my  ankle. 
And  here  I  am  ;  I  can  not  go  to  her,  and,  of  course, 
she  will  not  come  to  me.  You  cannot  imagine  how 
I  chafe  under  this  harassing  restraint." 

"  I  can  imagine  it  very  easily,"  said  Junius. 

"  The  only  thing  I  have  to  hope  for,"  said  Law 
rence,  "  is  that  to-morrow  may  be  a  fine  day,  and  that 
the  lady  may  come  outside  and  give  me  the  chance 
of  speaking  to  her  at  this  open  door." 

Junius  smiled  grimly.  "  It  appears  to  me,"  he 
said,  "  as  if  it  were  likely  to  rain  for  several  days. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  281 

But  now  I  must  go  into  the  house  and  see  the 
family.  I  hope  you  believe  me,  sir,  when  I  say  I  am 
sorry  to  find  you  in  your  present  predicament." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  smiling,  although  he  did 
not  feel  at  all  gay,  "  for,  otherwise,  I  might  have  been 
finally  rejected  and  far  away." 

"If  you  had  been  rejected,"  said  Junius,  "  I 
should  have  been  very  glad,  indeed,  to  have  you  stay 
with  us." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Lawrence. 

"  I  will  look  in  upon  you  again,"  said  Junius,  as 
he  left  the  room. 

Lawrence's  mind,  which  had  been  in  a  very  un 
pleasant  state  of  troubled  restiveness  for  some  days, 
was  now  thrown  into  a  sad  turmoil  by  this  arrival  of 
Junius  Keswick.  As  he  saw  that  tall  and  good- 
looking  young  man  going  up  the  steps  of  the  house 
porch,  with  his  valise  in  his  hand,  he  clinched  both 
his  fists  as  they  rested  on  the  arm  of  his  chair,  and 
objurgated  the  anti-detective. 

"  If  it  had  not  been  for  that  rascal,"  he  said  to  him 
self,  "  I  should  not  have  written  to  Keswick,  and  he 
would  not  have  thought  of  coming  back  at  this 
untimely  moment.  The  only  advantage  I  had  was  a 
clear  coast,  and  now  that  is  gone.  Of  course  Keswick 
was  frightened  when  he  found  I  was  staying  in  the 
same  house  with  Roberta  March,  and  hurried  back 
to  attend  to  his  own  interests.  The  first  thing  he 
will  do  now  will  be  to  propose  to  her  himself;  and, 
as  they  have  been  engaged  once,  it  is  as  like  as  not 
she  will  take  him  again.  If  I  could  use  this  foot,  I 


282  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

would  go  into  the  house,  this  minute,  and  have  the 
first  word  with  her."  At  this  he  rose  to  his  feet 
and  made  a  step  with  his  sprained  ankle,  but  the 
sudden  pain  occasioned  by  this  action  caused  him  to 
sit  down  again  with  a  groan.  Lawrence  Croft  was 
not  a  man  to  do  himself  a  physical  injury  which 
might  be  permanent,  if  such  doing  could  possibly  be 
avoided,  and  he  gave  up  the  idea  of  trying  to  go 
into  the  house. 

"  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  Letty,"  said  Uncle  Isham, 
when  he  returned  to  the  kitchen  after  having  carried 
Lawrence's  supper  to  him,  "  dat  ar  Mister  Croft  in 
de  offis  is  a  gittin  wuss  an*  wuss  in  he  min',  ebery 
day.  I  neber  seed  a  man  more  pow'ful  glowerin' 
dan  he  is  dis  ebenin." 

"  I  reckin'  he  j'ints  is  healin'  up,"  said  Letty. 
"  Dey  tells  me  dat  de  healin'  pains  mos'  gen'rally 
runs  into  de  minV 

About  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  Junius  Keswick 
paid  Lawrence  a  visit  ;  and,  taking  a  seat  by  one 
side  of  the  fireplace,  accepted  the  offer  of  a  cigar. 

"  How  are  things  going  on  in  the  house?"  asked 
Lawrence. 

"  Well,"  said  Keswick,  speaking  slowly,  "  as  you 
know  so  much  of  our  family  affairs,  I  might  as  well 
tell  you  that  they  are  in  a  somewhat  upset  condi 
tion.  When  I  went  in,  I  saw,  at  first,  no  one  but  my 
cousin,  and  she  seemed  so  extraordinarily  glad  to  see 
me  that  I  thought  something  must  be  wrong,  some 
where;  and  when  my  aunt  returned — she  was  not  at 
home  when  I  arrived — she  was  thrown  into  such  a 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  283 

state  of  mind  on  seeing  me,  that  I  didn't  know 
whether  she  was  going  to  order  me  out  of  the  house 
or  go  herself.  But  she  restrained  herself,  wonder 
fully,  considering  her  provocation,  for,  of  course,  I 
have  entirely  disordered  her  plans  by  appearing 
here,  when  she  had  arranged  everything  for  you  to 
have  Miss  March  to  yourself.  But,  so  far,  the  peace 
has  been  kept  between  us,  although  she  scarcely 
speaks  to  me." 

"  And  Miss  March  ?  "  said  Lawrence.  "  You  have 
seen  her? " 

"  Yes,"  said  Junius,  "  I  saw  her  at  supper,  and  for 
a  short  time  afterwards,  but  she  soon  retired  to  her 
room." 

a  Do  you  think  she  was  disturbed  by  your  re 
turn?"  asked  Lawrence. 

"I  won't  say  that,"  said  Junius,  "  but  she  was 
certainly  not  herself.  Mrs  Null  tells  me  that  she  ex 
pects  to  go  home  to-morrow  morning,  having  written 
to  her  uncle  to  send  for  her." 

"  That  is  bad,  bad,  very  bad,"  said  Lawrence. 

After  that  there  was  a  pause  in  the  conversation, 
during  which  Mr  Croft,  with  brows  very  much  knit, 
gazed  steadfastly  into  the  fire.  "  Mr  Keswick,"  he 
said  presently,  "  what  you  tell  me  fills  me  with  con 
sternation.  It  is  quite  plain  that  I  shall  have  no 
chance  to  see  Miss  March,  and,  as  there  is  no  one 
else  in  the  world  who  will  do  it  for  me,  I  am  going 
to  ask  you  to  go  to  her,  to-morrow  morning,  and 
speak  to  her  in  my  behalf." 

When  this  had  been  said,  Junius  Keswick  dropped 


284  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

his  cigar  upon  the  floor,  and  sat  up  very  straight  in 
his  chair,  gazing  fixedly  at  Lawrence.  "  Upon  my 
word  !  "  he  said,  "  I  knew  you  were  a  cool  man,  but 
that  request  freezes  my  imagination.  I  cannot 
conceive  how  any  man  can  ask  another  to  try  to 
win  for  him  a  lady  whom  he  knows  the  other  man 
desires  to  win  for  himself.  You  have  made  some 
requests  before  that  were  rather  astounding,  but 
this  one  overshadows  them  all." 

u  I  admit,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that  what  I  ask  is 
somewhat  out  of  the  way,  but  you  must  consider 
the  circumstances.  Suppose  I  had  met  you  in  mor 
tal  combat,  and  I  had  dropped  my  sword  where  you 
could  reach  it  and  I  could  not  ;  would  you  pick  it 
up  and  give  it  to  me  ?  or  would  you  run  me 
through?" 

"  I  don't  think  that  comparison  is  altogether  a 
good  one,"  said  Junius. 

"  Yes,  it  is,"  said  Lawrence,  "and  covers  the  case 
entirely.  I  am  here,  disabled,  and  if  you  pick  up 
my  sword,  as  I  have  just  asked  you  to  do,  it  is  not 
to  be  assumed  that  your  action  gives  me  the  victory. 
It  merely  gives  me  an  equal  chance  with  yourself." 

"  Do  you  mean,"  said  Junius,  "  that  you  want  me 
to  go  to  Miss  March,  and  deliberately  ask  her  if  she 
will  marry  you  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  have  done  that  myself. 
But  there  are  certain  points  in  regard  to  which 
I  want  to  be  set  right  with  Miss  March.  And  now 
I  wish  you  to  understand  me,  Mr  Keswick.  I 
speak  to  you,  not  only  as  a  generous  and  honorable 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  285 

man,  which  I  have  found  you  to  be,  but  as  a  rival. 
I  cannot  believe  that  you  would  be  willing  to  profit 
by  my  present  disadvantages,  and,  as  I  have  said 
two  or  three  times  before,  it  would  certainly  be  for 
your  interest,  as  a  suitor  for  the  lady,  to  have  this 
matter  settled." 

"  Wouldn't  it  be  better,  then,"  said  Junius,  "  if  I 
were  to  go  immediately,  and  speak  to  her  for  my 
self?" 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  don't  think  that  would 
settle  the  affair  at  all.  From  what  I  understand  of 
your  relations  with  Miss  March,  she  knows  you  are 
her  lover,  and  yet  she  neither  accepts  nor  declines 
you.  If  you  were  to  go  to  her  now,  it  is  not  likely 
she  would  give  you  any  definite  answer.  But  in  re 
gard  to  me,  it  would  be  different.  She  would  say 
yes  or  no.  And  if  she  made  the  latter  answer  I 
think  you  could  walk  over  the  course.  I  am  not 
vain  enough  to  say  that  I  have  been  an  obstacle  to 
your  success,  but  I  assure  you  that  I  have  tried  very 
hard  to  make  myself  such  an  obstacle." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Junius,  imitating  his  com 
panion  in  the  matter  of  knitting  his  brows  and  gaz 
ing  into  the  fire,  "  that  this  affair  could  be  managed 
very  simply.  Miss  March  is  not  going  at  the  break 
of  day.  Why  don't  you  contrive  to  see  her  before 
she  starts,  and  say  for  yourself  what  you  have  to 
say  ?  " 

"  Nothing  would  please  me  better  than  that,"  said 
Croft,  "  but  I  don't  believe  she  would  give  me  any 
chance  to  speak  with  her.  Since  my  accident,  she 


286  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

has  persistently  and  pointedly  refused  to  grant  me 
even  the  shortest  interview." 

"  That  ought  to  prove  to  you,"  said  Keswick, 
"  that  she  does  not  desire  your  attentions.  You 
should  consider  it  as  a  positive  answer." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Lawrence,  "  not  at  all.  And 
I  don't  think  you  would  consider  it  a  positive  an 
swer  if  you  were  in  my  place.  I  think  she  has  taken 
some  offence  which  is  entirely  groundless,  and  if  you 
will  consent  to  act  for  me  it  will  enable  me  to  set 
straight  this  misunderstanding." 

"  Confound  it !  "  exclaimed  Keswick.  "  Can't  you 
write  to  her?  or  get  some  one  else  to  take  your  love 
messages  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  cannot  write  to  her,  for 
I  am  not  sure  that  under  the  circumstances  she 
would  answer  my  letter.  And  I  have  already  asked 
Mrs  Null,  the  only  other  person  I  could  ask,  to 
speak  for  me,  but  she  has  declined." 

"  By  the  Lord  Harry  !  "  exclaimed  Junius,  "  you 
are  the  rarest  wooer  I  ever  heard  of." 

u  I  assure  you,"  said  Lawrence,  his  face  flushing 
somewhat,  "  that  it  is  not  my  desire  to  carry  on 
my  wooing  in  this  fashion.  My  whole  soul  is  op 
posed  to  it,  but  circumstances  will  have  it  so.  And 
as  I  don't  intend,  if  I  can  help  it,  to  have  my  life 
determined  by  circumstances,  I  must  go  ahead  in 
despite  of  them,  although  I  admit  that  it  makes  the 
road  very  rough." 

"  I  should  think  it  would,"  said  Junius.  And 
then  there  was  a  pause  in  the  conversation. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  287 

"  Well,  Mr  Keswick,"  said  Lawrence,  presently, 
"will  you  do  this  thing  for  me?" 

"Am  I  to  understand,"  said  Junius,  "that  if  I 
don't  do  it,  it  won't  be  done?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "  you  are  positively  my  last 
chance.  I  have  racked  my  brains  to  think  of  some 
other  way  of  presenting  my  case  to  Miss  March,  but 
there  is  no  other  way.  I  might  stand  at  my  door, 
and  call  to  her  as  she  entered  the  carriage,  but  that 
would  be  the  height  of  absurdity.  I  might  hop  on 
one  foot  into  the  house,  but,  even  if  I  wished  to  pre 
sent  myself  in  that  way,  I  don't  believe  I  could  get 
up  that  long  flight  of  steps.  It  would  oe  worse  than 
useless  to  write,  for  T  should  not  know  what  was 
thought  of  my  letter,  or  even  if  it  had  been  read.  Mrs 
Keswick  cannot  carry  my  message  ;  Mrs  Null  will 
not  ;  and  I  have  only  you  to  call  upon.  I  know  it 
is  a  great  deal  to  ask,  but  it  means  so  much  to  me — 
to  both  of  us,  in  fact — that  I  ask  it." 

"  You  were  kind  enough  to  say  a  little  while  ago," 
said  Junius,  "  that  you  considered  me  an  honorable 
man.  I  try  to  be  such,  and,  therefore,  will  frankly 
state  to  you  that  I  can  think  of  but  three  motives, 
satisfactory  to  myself,  for  undertaking  this  business 
for  you,  and  not  one  of  them  is  a  generous  one.  In 
the  first  place,  I  might  care  to  do  it  in  order  to  have 
this  matter  settled,  for  you  are  such  an  extraordinary 
suitor,  that  I  don't  know  in  what  form  you  may 
turn  up,  the  next  time.  Secondly,  from  what  you 
tell  me  of  Miss  March's  repugnance  to  meet  you, 
I  don't  believe  my  mission  will  have  an  issue  favor- 


288  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

able  to  you,  and  the  more  unfavorable  it  is,  the 
better  I  shall  like  it.  My  third  reason  for  acting  for 
you  is,  that  the  whole  affair  is  such  an  original  one 
that  it  will  rather  interest  me  to  be  engaged  in  it. 
This  last  reason  would  not  hold,  however,  if  I  had 
the  least  expectation  of  being  successful." 

"  You  consent  then?"  said  Lawrence,  quickly, 
turning  towards  the  other.  "You'll  go  to  Miss 
March  for  me  ?" 

"Yes,  I  think  I  will,"  said  Junius,  "  if  you  will 
accept  the  services  of  a  man  who  is  decidedly  op 
posed  to  your  interests." 

"  Of  course  I  never  expected  you  to  favor  them," 
said  Lawrence,  "  nor  is  it  necessary  that  you  should. 
All  I  ask  is,  that  you  carry  a  message  to  Miss  March, 
and  if  she  needs  any  explanation  of  it,  that  you  will 
explain  in  the  way  that  I  shall  indicate  ;  that  you 
shall  tell  me  how  she  received  my  message ;  and  that 
you  shall  bring  me  back  her  answer.  There  is  no 
need  of  your  making  any  proposition  to  her  ;  that 
has  already  been  done  ;  what  I  want  is,  that  she 
should  not  go  away  from  here  with  a  misunderstand 
ing  between  us,  and  that  she  shall  give  me  at  least 
the  promise  of  a  hearing." 

"Very  good,"  said  Junius,  "now,  what  is  it  that 
you  want  me  to  say?" 

This  was  not  an  easy  question  for  Lawrence  to 
answer.  He  knew  very  well  what  he  wanted  to  say, 
if  he  had  a  chance  of  saying  it  himself.  He 
wanted  to  pour  his  whole  heart  out  to  Roberta 
March,  and,  showing  her  its  present  passion,  to  ask 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  289 

her  to  forgive  those  days  in  which  his  mind  only 
had  appeared  to  be  engaged.  He  believed  he  could 
say  things  that  would  force  from  her  the  pardon  of 
his  previous  short-comings,  if  she  considered  them 
as  such.  She  had  been  very  gracious  to  him  in  time 
past,  and  he  did  not  see  why  she  should  not  be  still 
more  gracious  now,  if  he  could  remove  the  feelings 
of  resentment,  which  he  believed  were  occasioned 
by  her  womanly  insight  into  the  motives  of  his 
conduct  toward  her,  during  those  delightful  summer 
days  at  Midbranch. 

But  to  get  another  person  to  say  all  this  was  a 
very  different  thing.  He  was  sure,  however,  that  if 
it  were  not  said  now,  it  would  never  be  said.  It 
would  be  death  to  all  his  hopes  if  Miss  March 
went  away,  feeling  towards  him  as  she  now  felt  ; 
therefore  he  stiffened  his  purpose  which  was  quite 
used  to  being  stiffened  ;  hardened  his  sensibilities  ; 
and  took  his  plunge.  Gazing  steadfastly  at  the  back 
of  the  fireplace  while  he  spoke,  he  endeavored  to 
make  Junius  Keswick  understand  the  nature,  and 
the  probable  force  of  the  objections  to  his  line  of 
action  as  a  suitor,  which  had  grown  up  in  the  mind 
of  Miss  March  ;  and  he  also  endeavored  to  show  how 
completely  and  absolutely  he  had  been  changed  by 
the  vigor  and  ardor  of  his  present  affection  ;  and 
how  he  was  entitled  to  be  considered  by  Miss  March 
as  a  lover  who  had  but  one  thought  and  purpose, 
and  that  was  to  win  her  ;  and,  as  such,  he  asked  her 
to  give  him  an  opportunity  to  renew  his  proposal  to 
her.  "  Now,  then,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  have  placed 
19 


290  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

the  case  before  you,  and  I  beg  you  will  present  it, 
as  nearly  as  possible,  in  the  form  in  which  I  have 
given  it  to  you." 

"  Mr  Croft,"  said  Junius,  "  this  case  of  yours  is 
worse  than  I  thought  it  was.  What  woman  of  spirit 
would  accept  a  man  who  admitted,  that  during  the 
whole  of  his  acquaintance  with  her  he  had  had  his 
doubts  in  regard  to  suitability,  etc.,  but  who,  when 
a  crisis  arrived,  and  another  man  turned  up,  had 
determined  to  overlook  all  his  objections  and  take 
her,  anyway." 

"That  is  a  very  cold-blooded  way  of  putting  it," 
said  Lawrence,  "  and  I  don't  believe  at  all  that  she 
will  look  upon  it  in  that  light.  If  you  will  set  the 
matter  before  her  as  I  have  put  it  to  you,  I  believe 
she  will  see  it  as  I  wish  her  to  see  it." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Junius,  rising,  and  taking  out 
his  watch,  "  I  will  make  your  statement  as  accurately 
as  I  can,  and  without  any  interpretations  of  my  own. 
And  now  I  must  bid  you  good-night.  I  had  no  idea 
it  was  after  twelve  o'clock." 

"And  you  will  observe  her  moods?"  asked  Law 
rence. 

"Yes,"  said  Junius  as  he  opened  the  door,  "I  will 
carefully  observe  her  moods." 

When  Junius  had  gone,  Lawrence  turned  his  face 
again  toward  the  fireplace,  where  the  last  smoulder 
ing  stick  had  just  broken  apart  in  the  middle,  and 
the  two  ends  had  wearily  fallen  over  the  andirons  as 
if  they  wished  it  understood  that  they  could  do  no 
more  burning  that  night.  Taking  this  as  a  hint, 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  291 

Lawrence  prepared  to  retire.  "  Old  Isham  must 
have  gone  to  bed  long  ago,"  he  said, "  but  as  I  have 
asked  for  so  much  assistance  to-day,  I  think  it  is 
well  that  I  should  try  to  do  some  things  for  myself." 

It  was,  indeed,  very  late,  but  behind  the  partially 
closed  shutters  of  a  lower  room  of  the  house  sat  old 
Mrs  Keswick,  gazing  at  the  light  that  was  stream 
ing  from  the  window  of  the  office,  and  wondering 
what  those  two  men  were  saying  to  each  other  that 
was  keeping  them  sitting  up  together  until  after 
midnight. 

Annie  Peyton,  too,  had  not  gone  to  bed,  and 
looking  through  her  chamber  window  at  the  office, 
she  hoped  that  cousin  Junius  would  come  away  be 
fore  he  lost  his  temper.  Of  course  she  thought  he 
must  have  been  very  angry  when  he  came  home  and 
found  Mr  Croft  here  at  the  only  time  that  Roberta 
March  had  ever  visited  the  house,  and  it  was  quite 
natural  that  he  should  go  to  his  rival,  and  tell  him 
what  he  thought  about  it.  But  he  had  been  there 
a  long,  long  time,  and  she  did  hope  they  would  not 
get  very  angry  with  each  other,  and  that  nothing 
would  happen.  One  thought  comforted  her  very 
much.  Mr  Croft  was  disabled,  and  Junius  would 
scorn  to  take  advantage  of  a  man  in  that  condition. 

At  an  upper  window,  at  the  other  end  of  the 
house,  sat  Roberta  March,  ready  for  bed,  but  with 
no  intention  of  going  there  until  Junius  Keswick 
had  come  out  of  the  office.  Knowing  the  two  men 
as  she  did,  she  had  no  fear  that  any  harm  would 
come  to  either  of  them  during  this  long  conference, 


292  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

whatever  its  subject  might  be.  That  she,  herself, 
was  that  subject  she  had  not  the  slightest  doubt,  and 
although  it  was  of  no  earthly  use  for  her  to  sit  there 
and  gaze  upon  that  light  streaming  into  the  dark 
ness  of  the  yard,  but  revealing  to  her  no  more  of 
what  was  going  on  inside  the  room  than  if  it  had 
been  the  light  of  a  distant  star,  still  she  sat  and 
speculated.  At  last  the  office  door  opened,  and 
Junius  came  out,  turning  to  speak  to  the  occupant 
of  the  room  as  he  did  so.  The  brief  vision  of  him 
which  the  watchers  caught,  as  he  stood  for  a  mo 
ment  in  the  lighted  doorway  before  stepping  out  into 
the  darkness,  showed  that  his  demeanor  was  as  quiet 
and  composed  as  usual ;  and  one  of  the  three  women 
went  to  bed  very  much  relieved. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

FROM  breakfast  time  the  next  morning  until  ten 
o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  at  which  hour  the  Mid- 
branch  carnage  arrived,  Junius  Keswick  had  been 
vainly  endeavoring  to  get  an  opportunity  to  speak 
with  Miss  March.  That  lady  had  remained  in  her 
own  room  nearly  all  the  morning,  where  his  cousin 
had  been  with  her  ;  and  his  aunt,  who  had  her  own 
peculiar  ways  of  speeding  the  parting  guest,  had  re 
tired  to  some  distant  spot  on  the  estate,  either  to 
plan  out  some  farming  operation  for  the  ensuing 
season,  or  to  prevent  her  pent-up  passion  from  boil 
ing  over  in  her  own  house. 

Thus  Junius  had  the  lower  floor  to  himself,  and  he 
strode  about  in  much  disquietude,  debating  whether 
he  ought  to  send  a  message  to  Roberta,  or  whether 
he  should  wait  till  she  had  finished  her  packing,  or 
whatever  it  was,  that  was  keeping  her  upstairs.  His 
last  private  interview  with  her  had  not  been  a  pleas 
ant  one,  and  if  he  had  intended  to  speak  to  her  for 
himself,  he  would  not  have  felt  much  encouraged  by 
her  manner  of  the  preceding  evening;  but  he  was 
now  engaged  on  the  affairs  of  another,  and  he  be 
lieved  that  a  failure  to  attend  to  them  would  be  re 
garded  as  a  breach  of  faith. 

When  Mr  Brandon's  carriage  drove  into  the  yard 


294  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

he  began  to  despair,  but  now  Roberta  came  running 
down  stairs  to  speak  to  Sam,  the  driver,  and  ask  him 
how  long  it  would  be  necessary  to  rest  his  horses. 
Sam  thought  an  hour  would  be  long  enough,  as  they 
would  have  a  good  rest  when  they  got  home ;  and 
this  matter  having  been  settled,  Junius  came  for 
ward,  and  requested  Roberta  to  step  in  the  parlor, 
as  he  had  something  to  say  to  her.  Without  reply, 
she  followed  him  into  the  room,  and  he  closed  the 
door.  They  sat  down,  one  on  one  side  of  the  round 
centre  table,  and  one  on  the  other,  and  Junius  began 
his  statement. 

He  was  by  profession  a  lawyer,  and  he  had  given 
a  great  deal  of  attention  to  the  art  of  putting 
things  plainly,  and  with  a  view  to  a  just  effect.  He 
had  carefully  prepared  in  his  mind  what  he  should 
say  to  Roberta.  He  wished  to  present  this  man's 
message  without  the  slightest  exhibition  of  desire 
for  its  success,  and  yet  without  any  tendency  to  that 
cold-blooded  way  of  stating  it,  to  which  Croft  had 
objected.  He  had,  indeed,  picked  up  his  adversary's 
sword,  and  while  he  did  not  wish,  in  handing  it  to 
him,  to  prick  him  with  it,  or  do  him  some  such  un 
derhand  injury,  he  did  not  think  it  at  all  necessary 
to  sharpen  the  weapon  before  giving  it  back. 

What  Junius  had  to  say  occupied  a  good  deal  of 
time.  He  expressed  himself  carefully  and  deliber 
ately  ;  and  as  nearly  as  a  skilfully  stuffed  and  pre 
pared  animal  in  a  museum  resembles  its  wild  original 
of  the  forest,  so  did  his  remarks  resemble  those  that 
Lawrence  would  have  made  had  he  been  there. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  295 

Roberta  listened  to  him  in  silence  until  he  had 
finished,  and  then  she  rose  to  her  feet,  and  her  man 
ner  was  such  that  Junius  rose  also.  "  Junius  Kes 
wick,"  she  said,  "  you  have  deliberately  come  to  me, 
and  offered  me  the  hand  of  another  man  in  mar 
riage." 

"  Not  that,"  said  Junius,  "  I  merely  came  to  ex 
plain- 

"  Do  not  split  hairs,"  she  interrupted,  "  you  did 
exactly  that.  You  came  to  me  because  he  could 
not  come  himself,  and  offered  him  to  me.  Now  go 
to  him  from  me,  and  tell  him  that  I  accept  him." 
And,  with  that,  she  swept  out  of  the  room,  and 
came  down  stairs  no  more  until  bonneted,  and  ac 
companied  by  Miss  Annie,  she  hurried  to  the  front 
door,  and  entered  the  carriage  which  was  there 
waiting  for  her,  with  Peggy  by  the  driver.  With 
some  quick  good-byes  and  kisses  to  Annie,  but 
never  a  word  to  Junius,  or  anybody  else,  she  drove 
away. 

If  Junius  Keswick  had  been  nervous  and  anxious 
that  morning,  as  he  strode  about  the  house,  waiting 
for  an  opportunity  to  speak  to  Miss  March,  it  may 
well  be  supposed  that  Lawrence  Croft,  shut  up  in 
his  little  room  at  the  end  of  the  yard,  would  be 
more  so.  He  had  sat  at  his  window,  waiting,  and 
waiting.  He  had  occasionally  seen  Mr  Keswick 
come  out  on  the  porch,  and  with  long  strides  pace 
backward  and  forward,  and  he  knew  by  that  sign 
that  he  had  yet  no  message  to  bring  him.  He  had 
seen  the  Midbranch  carriage  drive  into  the  yard  ; 


296  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

he  had  seen  Miss  March  come  out  on  the  porch, 
and  speak  to  the  driver,  and  then  go  in  again;  he 
had  seen  the  carriage  driven  under  a  large  tree, 
where  the  horses  were  taken  put  and  led  away  to  be 
refreshed  ;  in  an  hour  or  more,  he  saw  them  brought 
back  and  harnessed  to  the  vehicle,  which  was  turned 
and  driven  up  again  to  the  door,  when  some  baggage 
was  brought  down  and  strapped  on  a  little  platform 
behind.  Shortly  afterwards  Peggy  came  round  the 
end  of  the  house,  with  a  hat  on,  and  a  little  bundle 
under  her  arm,  and  approached  the  carriage,  mak 
ing,  however,  a  wide  turn  toward  the  office,  at 
which,  and  a  mile  or  two  beyond,  her  far-off  gaze 
was  steadily  directed. 

Lawrence  threw  up  the  sash  and  called  to  her,  and 
his  guardian  imp  approached  the  window.  "  Are 
you  Miss  March's  maid  ?  I  think  I  have  seen  you 
at  Midbranch." 

"  Yaas,  sah,  you's  done  seen  me,  offen,"  said 
Peggy. 

4<  Does  Miss  March  intend  to  start  immediately?" 
he  asked. 

"  Yaas,  sah,"  said  the  good  Peggy,  "  she'll  be  out 
in  a  minute,  soon  as  she  done  kissin'  Man's  Junius 
good-bye  in  de  parlor."  And  then,  noticing  a  look 
of  astonishment  on  the  gentleman's  face,  she  added : 
"  Dey's  gwine  to  be  mar'ed,  Chris'mus." 

"  What !  "  exclaimed  Lawrence. 

"  Good-bye,  Mister  Crof,'  "  said  Peggy,  "  I's  got  to 
hurry  up." 

Lawrence  made  no  answer,  but  mechanically  tossed 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  297 

her  a  coin,  which,  picking  up,  she  gave  him  a  fare 
well  grin,  and  hastened  to  take  her  seat  by  the 
driver. 

Very  soon  afterward  Lawrence  saw  Roberta  come 
out,  accompanied  only  by  Mrs  Null,  and  hurry  down 
the  steps.  Forgetting  his  injured  ankle,  he  sprang 
to  his  feet,  and  stepping  quickly  to  the  door,  opened 
it,  and  stood  on  the  threshold.  But  Miss  March  did 
not  even  look  his  way.  He  gazed  at  her  with  wide- 
open  eyes  as  she  hastily  kissed  Mrs  Null,  and  sprang 
into  the  carriage,  which  was  immediately  driven  off. 
As  Mrs  Null  turned  to  go  into  the  house,  she  looked 
toward  the  office  and  nodded  to  him.  He  believed 
that  she  would  have  come  to  him  if  he  had  called 
her,  but  he  did  not  call.  His  mind  was  in  such  a 
condition  that  he  would  not  have  been  capable  of 
framing  a  question,  had  she  come.  He  felt  that  he 
could  speak  to  no  one  until  he  had  seen  Keswick. 
Closing  the  door  he  went  back  to  his  chair ;  and  as 
he  did  so,  his  ankle  pained  him  sadly,  but  of  this 
he  scarcely  thought. 

He  did  not  have  to  wait  long  for  Junius  Keswick, 
for  in  about  ten  minutes  that  individual  entered. 
Lawrence  turned,  as  his  visitor  opened  the  door  ; 
and  he  saw  a  countenance  which  had  undergone 
a  very  noticeable  change.  It  was  not  dark  or  low 
ering  ;  it  was  not  pale ;  but  it  was  gray  and  hard ; 
and  the  eyes  looked  larger  than  Lawrence  had  re 
membered  them. 

Without  preface  or  greeting  Junius  approached 
him,  and  said :  "  I  have  taken  your  message  to  Miss 


298  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

March,  and  have  brought  you  one  in  return.  You 
are  accepted." 

Lawrence  pushed  back  his  chair,  and  stared 
blankly  at  the  other.  "  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  he 
presently  asked. 

"  I  mean  what  I  say,"  said  Keswick.  "  Miss 
March  has  accepted  you." 

A  crowd  of  emotions  rushed  through  the  brain  of 
Lawrence  Croft ;  joy  was  among  them,  but  it  was  a 
joy  that  was  jostled  and  shaken  and  pushed,  this 
way  and  that.  "  I  do  not  understand,"  he  said.  "  I 
did  not  expect  such  a  decisive  message.  I  supposed 
she  might  send  me  some  encouragement,  some — . 
Why  didn't  she  see  me  before  she  left?" 

"  I  am  not  here  to  explain  her  actions  if  I  could," 
said  Junius,  who  had  not  sat  down.  "She  said: 
*  Tell  him  I  accept  him.'  That  is  all.  Good  morn- 
ing." 

"  But,  stop  !  "  cried  Lawrence,  on  his  feet  again. 
"  You  must  tell  me  more  than  that.  Did  you  say 
to  her  only  what  I  said  to  you  ?  How  did  it  affect 
her?" 

"  Oh,"  said  Junius,  turning  suddenly  at  the  door, 
"  I  forgot  that  you  asked  me  to  observe  her  mood. 
Well,  she  was  very  angry." 

"With  me?"  cried  Lawrence. 

"  With  me,"  said  Junius.  And  closing  the  door 
behind  him,  he  strode  away. 

The  accepted  lover  sat  down.  He  had  never 
spoken  more  truly  than  when  he  said  he  did  not 
understand  it.  "  Is  she  really  mine?  "  he  exclaimed. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  299 

And  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  blank  wall  over  the 
mantel-piece,  he  repeated  over  and  over  again  :  "  Is 
she  mine?  Is  she  really  mine?"  He  had  well  de 
veloped  mental  powers,  but  the  work  of  setting  this 
matter  straight  and  plain  was  too  difficult  for  him. 

If  she  had  sent  him  some  such  message  as  this  : 
"  I  am  very  angry  with  you,  but  some  day  you  can 
come  and  explain  yourself  to  me  ;  "  his  heart  would 
have  leaped  for  joy.  He  would  have  believed  that 
his  peace  had  been  made,  and  that  he  had  only  to 
go  to  her  to  call  her  his  own.  Now  his  heart  de 
sired  to  leap  with  joy,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  know 
how  to  do  it.  The  situation  was  such  an  anomalous 
one.  After  such  a  message  as  this,  why  had  she  not 
let  him  see  her  ?  Why  had  she  been  angry  with 
Keswick  ?  Was  that  pique  ?  And  then  a  dark 
thought  crossed  his  mind.  Had  he  been  accepted 
to  punish  the  other  ?  No,  he  could  not  believe  that ; 
no  woman  such  as  Roberta  March  would  give  her 
self  away  from  such  a  motive.  Had  Keswick  been 
joking  with  him  ?  No,  he  could  not  believe  that  ; 
no  man  could  joke  with  such  a  face. 

Even  the  fact  that  Mrs  Keswick  had  not  bid  Miss 
March  farewell,  troubled  the  mind  of  Lawrence.  It 
was  true  that  she  might  not  yet  know  that  the  match, 
which  she  had  so  much  encouraged,  had  been  finally 
made,  but  something  must  be  very  wrong,  or  she 
would  not  have  been  absent  at  the  moment  of  her 
guest's  departure.  And  what  did  that  beastly  little 
negro  mean  by  telling  him  that  Keswick  and  Miss 
March  were  to  be  married  at  Christmas,  and  that 


300  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

the  two  were  kissing  each  other  good-bye  in  the 
parlor  ?  Why,  the  man  had  not  even  come  out  to 
put  her  in  the  carriage,  and  the  omission  of  this 
courtesy  was  very  remarkable.  These  questions 
were  entirely  too  difficult  for  him  to  resolve  by  him 
self.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  more  should 
be  told  to  him,  and  explained  to  him.  Seeing  the 
negro  boy  Plez  crossing  the  yard,  he  called  him  and 
asked  him  to  tell  Mr  Keswick  that  Mr  Croft  wished 
to  see  him  immediately. 

"Mails'  Junius,"  said  the  boy,  "  he  done  gone  to 
de  railroad  to  take  de  kyars.  He  done  took  he  knap 
sack  on  he  back,  an'  walk  'cross  de  fiel's." 

When,  about  an  hour  or  two  afterwards,  Uncle 
Isham  brought  Mr  Croft  his  dinner,  the  old  negro 
appeared  to  have  lost  that  air  of  attentive  geniality 
which  he  usually  put  on  while  waiting  on  the  gen 
tleman.  Lawrence,  however,  took  no  notice  of  this, 
but  before  the  man  reached  the  table,  on  which  he 
was  to  place  the  tray  he  carried,  he  asked  :  "  Is  it 
true  that  Mr  Keswick  has  gone  away  by  train  ?  " 

"  Yaas,  sah,"  answered  Isham. 

"And  where  is  Mrs  Keswick?"  asked  Lawrence. 
"  Isn't  she  in  the  house?" 

"  No,  sah,  done  gwine  vis'tin,  I  'spec." 

"  When  will  she  return  ?  " 

"  Dunno,"  said  Isham.  "  She  nebber  comes  to  me 
an'  tells  me  whar  she  gwine,  an'  when  she  comin' 
back." 

And  then,  after  satisfying  himself  that  nothing 
more  was  needed  of  him  for  the  present,  Isham  left 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  301 

the  room  ;  and  when  he  reached  the  kitchen,  he  ad 
dressed  himself  to  its  plump  mistress  :  "  Letty," 
said  he,  "  when  dat  ar  Mister  Crof  has  got  froo  wid 
his  dinner,  you  go  an'  fotch  back  de  plates  an' 
dishes.  He  axes  too  many  questions  to  suit  me,  dis 
day." 

"  You  is  poh'ly  to-day,  Uncle  Isham,"  said  Letty. 

"  Yaas,"  said  the  old  man,  "  I's  right  much  on  the 
careen." 

Uncle  Isham,  perhaps,  was  not  more  loyal  to  the 
widow  Keswick  than  many  old  servants  were  and 
are  to  their  former  mistresses,  but  his  loyalty  was 
peculiar  in  that  it  related  principally  to  his  regard 
for  her  character.  This  regard  he  wished  to  be  very 
high,  and  it  always  troubled  and  unsettled  his  mind, 
when  the  old  lady  herself  or  anybody  else  interfered 
with  his  efforts  to  keep  it  high.  For  years  he  had  been 
hoping  that  the  time  would  come  when  she  would 
cease  to  "  rar  and  chawge,"  but  she  had  continued,  at 
intervals,  to  indulge  in  that  most  unsuitable  exercise  ; 
and  now  that  it  appeared  that  she  had  reared  and 
charged  again,  her  old  servant  was  much  depressed. 
She  had  gone  away  from  the  house,  and,  for  all  he 
knew,  she  might  stay  away  for  days  or  weeks,  as  she 
had  done  before,  and  Uncle  Isham  was  never  so 
much  "  on  the  careen  "  as  when  he  found  himself 
forced  to  believe  that  his  old  mistress  was  still  a 
woman  who  could  do  a  thing  like  that. 

Letty  had  no  objections  to  answering  questions, 
but  much  to  her  disappointment,  Lawrence  asked 
her  none.  He  had  had  enough  of  catechising  ne- 


302  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

groes.  But  he  requested  her  to  ask  Mrs  Null  if  she 
would  be  kind  enough  to  step  out,  for  a  few  minutes, 
and  speak  to  him.  When,  very  shortly  thereafter, 
that  lady  appeared,  Lawrence  was  seated  at  his  open 
door  ready  to  receive  her. 

"  How  are  you  ?  "  she  said.  "  And  how  is  your 
ankle  to-day  ?  You  have  had  nobody  to  attend  to 
it." 

"  It  has  hurt  me  a  good  deal,"  he  answered.  "  I 
think  I  must  have  given  it  a  wrench  this  morning, 
but  I  put  on  it  some  of  the  lotion  Mrs  Keswick  left 
with  me,  and  it  feels  better." 

"  It  is  too  bad,"  said  Mrs  Null,  "  that  you  have  to 
attend  to  it  yourself." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Lawrence.  "  Now  that  I  know 
how,  I  can  do  it,  perfectly  well,  and  I  don't  care  a 
snap  about  my  ankle,  except  that  it  interferes  with 
more  important  affairs.  Why  do  you  suppose  Miss 
March  went  away  without  speaking  to  me,  or  taking 
leave  of  me  in  any  way  ?  " 

"  I  thought  that  would  trouble  you,"  said  she, 
"  and,  to  speak  honestly,  I  don't  think  it  was  right. 
But  Roberta  was  in  a  very  agitated  condition,  when 
she  left  here,  and  I  don't  believe  she  ever  thought  of 
taking  leave  of  you,  or  any  one,  except  me.  She 
and  I  are  very  good  friends,  but  she  don't  confide 
much  in  me.  But  one  thing  I  am  pretty  sure  of, 
and  that  is  that  she  is  dreadfully  angry  with  my 
cousin  Junius,  and  I  am  very  sorry  for  that." 

"  How  did  he  anger  her  ?  "  asked  Lawrence,  wish 
ing  to  find  out  how  much  this  young  woman  knew. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  303 

"  I  haven't  the  least  idea,"  said  Miss  Annie.  "  All 
I  know  is,  she  had  quite  a  long  talk  with  him,  in  the 
parlor,  and  after  that  she  came  flying  upstairs,  just 
as  indignant  as  she  could  be.  She  didn't  say  much, 
but  I  could  see  how  her  soul  raged  within  her." 
And  now  the  young  lady  stopped  speaking,  and 
looked  straight  into  Lawrence's  face.  "  It  isn't  pos 
sible,"  she  said,  "  that  you  have  been  sending  my 
cousin  to  propose  to  her  for  you  ?  " 

This  was  not  a  pleasant  question  to  answer,  and, 
besides,  Lawrence  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the 
period  had  passed  for  making  confidants  of  other 
persons,  in  regard  to  his  love  affairs.  "  Do  you  sup 
pose  I  would  do  that  ?  "  he  said. 

"  No,  I  don't,"  Miss  Annie  answered.  "  Cousin 
Junius  would  never  have  undertaken  such  a  thing, 
and  I  don't  believe  you  would  be  cruel  enough  to 
ask  him." 

"  Thank  you  for  your  good  opinion,"  said  Law 
rence.  "  And  now  can  you  tell  me  when  Mr  Kes- 
wick  is  expected  to  return  ?  " 

"  He  has  gone  back  to  Washington,  and  he  told 
me  he  should  stay  there  some  time.'' 

"  And  why  has  not  Mrs  Keswick  been  out  to  see 
me  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"You  are  dreadfully  inquisitive,"  said  Miss  Annie, 
"  but  to  tell  you  the  simple  truth,  Mr  Croft,  I  don't 
believe  Aunt  Keswick  takes  any  further  interest  in 
you,  now  that  Roberta  has  gone.  She  had  set  her 
heart  on  making  a  match  between  you  two,  and  do 
ing  it  here  without  delay  ;  and  I  think  that  every- 


304  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

thing  going  wrong  about  this  has  put  her  into  the 
state  of  mind  she  is  in  now." 

"  Has  she  really  gone  away  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"  Oh,  that  don't  amount  to  anything,"  said  Miss 
Annie.  "  She  went  over  the  fields  to  Hewlett's,  to 
see  the  postmistress,  who  is  an  old  friend,  to  whom 
she  often  goes  for  comfort,  when  things  are  not  right 
at  home.  But  I  am  going  after  her  this  afternoon 
in  the  spring  wagon.  I'll  take  Plez  along  with  me 
to  open  the  gates.  I  am  sure  I  shall  bring  her 
back." 

"  I  must  admit,  Mrs  Null,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that 
I  am  very  inquisitive,  but  you  can  easily  understand 
how  much  I  am  troubled  and  perplexed." 

"  I  expect  Miss  March's  going  away  troubled  you 
more  than  anything  else,"  said  she. 

"That  is  true,"  he  answered,  u  but  then  there  are 
other  things  which  give  me  a  great  deal  of  anxiety. 
I  came  here  to  be,  for  a  day  or  two,  the  guest  of 
a  lady  on  whom  I  have  no  manner  of  claim  for  pro 
longed  hospitality.  And  now  here  I  am,  compelled 
to  stay  in  this  room  and  depend  on  her  kindness 
or  forbearance  for  everything  I  have.  I  would  go 
away,  immediately,  but  I  know  it  would  injure  me  to 
travel.  The  few  steps  I  took  yesterday  have  prob 
ably  set  me  back  for  several  days." 

"  Oh,  it  would  never  do  for  you  to  travel,"  said  she, 
"  with  such  a  sprained  ankle  as  you  have.  It  would 
certainly  injure  you  very  much  to  be  driven  all  the 
way  to  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs.  I  am  told  the 
road  is  very  rough,  between  here  and  there,  but 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  305 

perhaps  you  didn't  notice  it,  having  come  over  on 
horseback." 

"  Yes,  I  did  notice  it,  and  I  could  not  stand  that 
drive.  And,  even  if  I  could  be  got  to  the  train,  to 
go  North,  I  should  have  to  walk  a  good  deal  at  the 
stations." 

"  You  simply  must  not  think  of  it,"  said  Miss 
Annie.  "  And  now  let  me  give  you  a  piece  of  ad 
vice.  I  am  a  practical  person,  as  you  may  know, 
and  I  like  to  do  things  in  a  practical  way.  The  very 
best  thing  that  you  can  do,  is  to  arrange  with  Aunt 
Keswick  to  stay  here  as  a  boarder,  until  your  ankle 
is  well.  She  has  taken  boarders,  and  in  this  case  I 
don't  think  she  would  refuse.  As  I  told  you  before, 
you  must  not  expect  her  to  take  the  same  interest 
in  you,  that  she  did  when  you  first  came,  but  she  is 
really  a  kind  woman,  though  she  has  such  dread 
fully  funny  ways,  and  she  wouldn't  have  neglected 
you  to-day,  if  it  hadn't  been  that  her  mind  is  en 
tirely  wrapped  up  in  other  things.  If  you  like, 
I'll  propose  such  an  arrangement  to  her,  this  after 
noon." 

"  You  are  very  kind,  indeed,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but 
is  there  not  danger  of  offending  her  by  such  a  propo 
sition  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  think  there  is,"  answered  Miss  Annie,  "  and 
I  have  no  doubt  she  will  fly  out  into  a  passion  when 
she  hears  that  the  gentleman,  whom  she  invited  here 
as  a  guest,  proposes  to  stay  as  a  boarder,  but  I  think 
I  can  pacify  her,  and  make  her  look  at  the  matter  in 
the  proper  way." 

20 


306  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  But  why  mention  it  at  all,  and  put  yourself  to 
all  that  trouble  about  it  ?  "  said  Lawrence. 

"  Why,  of  course,  because  I  think  you  will  be  so 
much  better  satisfied,  and  content  to  keep  quiet  and 
get  well,  if  you  feel  that  you  have  a  right  to  stay 
here.  If  Aunt  Keswick  wasn't  so  very  different 
from  other  people,  I  wouldn't  have  mentioned  this 
matter  for,  really,  there  is  no  necessity  for  it ;  but  I 
know  very  well  that  if  you  were  to  drop  out  of  her 
mind  for  two  or  three  days,  and  shouldn't  see  any 
thing  of  her,  that  you  would  become  dreadfully  ner 
vous  about  staying  here." 

u  You  are  certainly  very  practical,  Mrs  Null,  and 
very  sensible,  and  very,  very  kind  ;  and  nothing  could 
suit  me  better  under  the  circumstances  than  the 
plan  you  propose.  But  I  am  extremely  anxious  not 
to  give  offence  to  your  aunt.  She  has  treated  me 
with  the  utmost  kindness  and  hospitality." 

"Oh,  don't  trouble  yourself  about  that,"  said  Miss 
Annie,  with  a  little  laugh.  "  I  am  getting  to  know  her 
so  well  that  I  think  I  can  manage  an  affair  like  this, 
very  easily.  And  now  I  must  be  off,  or  it  will  be 
too  late  for  me  to  go  to  Hewlett's,  this  afternoon, 
and  I  am  a  very  slow  driver.  Are  you  sure  there  is 
nothing  you  want  ?  I  shall  go  directly  past  the 
store,  and  can  stop  as  well  as  not." 

"  Thank  you  very  much,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but  I 
do  not  believe  that  Hewlett's  possesses  an  article 
that  I  need.  One  thing  I  will  ask  you  to  do  for  me 
before  you  go.  I  want  to  write  a  letter,  and  I  find 
that  I  am  out  of  paper  ;  therefore  I  shall  be  very 


•   The  Late  Mrs  Null.  307 

much  obliged  to  you,  if  you  will  let  me  have  some, 
and  some  envelopes." 

"  Why,  certainly,"  said  Miss  Annie,  and  she  went 
into  the  house. 

She  looked  over  the  stock  of  paper  which  her 
aunt  kept  in  a  desk  in  the  dining-room,  but  she  did 
not  like  it.  "  I  don't  believe  he  will  want  to  write 
on  such  ordinary  paper  as  this,"  she  said  to  herself. 
Whereupon  she  went  upstairs  and  got  some  of  her 
own  paper  and  envelopes,  which  were  much  finer  in 
material  and  more  correct  in  style.  "  I  don't  like  it 
a  bit,"  she  thought,  "  to  give  this  to  him  to  write 
that  letter  on,  but  I  suppose  it's  bound  to  be  written, 
anyway,  so  he  might  as  well  have  the  satisfaction 
of  good  paper." 

"  You  must  excuse  these  little  sheets,"  she  said, 
when  she  took  it  to  him,  u  but  you  couldn't  expect 
anything  else,  in  an  Amazonian  household  like  ours. 
Cousin  Junius  has  manly  stationery,  of  course,  but  I 
suppose  it  is  all  locked  up  in  that  secretary  in  your 
room." 

"  Oh,  this  will  do  very  well  indeed,"  said  Law 
rence  ;  "  and  I  wish  I  could  come  out  and  help  you 
into  your  vehicle,"  regarding  the  spring  wagon  which 
now  stood  at  the  door,  with  Plez  at  the  head  of  the 
solemn  sorrel. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "  that  is  not  at  all 
necessary."  And  she  tripped  over  to  the  spring 
wagon,  and  mounting  into  its  altitudes  without  the 
least  trouble  in  the  world,  she  took  up  the  reins. 
With  these  firmly  grasped  in  her  little  hands,  which 


3o8  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

were  stretched  very  far  out,  and  held  very  wide  apart, 
she  gave  the  horse  a  great  jerk  and  told  him  to  "  Get 
up !  "  As  she  moved  off,  Lawrence  from  his  open 
door  called  out :  "  Bon  voyage"  and  in  a  full,  clear 
voice  she  thanked  him,  but  did  not  dare  to  look 
around,  so  intent  was  she  upon  her  charioteering. 

Slowly  turning  the  horse  toward  the  yard  gate, 
which  Plez  stood  holding  open,  her  whole  soul  was 
absorbed  in  the  act  of  guiding  the  equipage  through 
the  gateway.  Quickly  glancing  from  side  to  side, 
and  then  at  the  horse's  back,  which  ought  to  occupy 
a  medium  position  between  the  two  gateposts,  she 
safely  steered  the  front  wheels  through  the  danger 
ous  pass,  although  a  grin  of  delight  covered  the  face 
of  Plez  as  he  noticed  that  the  hub  of  one  of  the  hind 
wheels  almost  grazed  a  post.  Then  the  observant 
boy  ran  on  to  open  the  other  gate,  and  with  many 
jerks  and  clucks,  Miss  Annie  induced  the  sorrel  to 
break  into  a  gentle  trot. 

As  Lawrence  looked  after  her,  a  little  pang  made 
itself  noticeable  in  his  conscience.  This  girl  was 
certainly  very  kind  to  him,  and  most  remarkably 
considerate  of  him  in  the  plan  she  had  proposed. 
And  yet  he  felt  that  he  had  prevaricated  to  her, 
and,  in  fact,  deceived  her,  in  the  answer  he  had  made 
when  she  asked  him  if  he  had  sent  her  cousin  to 
speak  for  him  to  Miss  March.  Would  she  have  such 
friendly  feelings  toward  him,  and  be  so  willing  to 
oblige  him,  if  she  knew  that  he  had  in  effect  done 
the  thing  which  she  considered  so  wrong  and  so 
cruel?  But  it  could  not  be  helped;  the  time  had 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  309 

passed  for  confidences.  He  must  now  work  out  this 
affair  for  himself,  without  regard  to  persons  who 
really  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  it. 

Closing  his  door,  he  hopped  back  to  his  table, 
and,  seating  himself  at  it,  he  opened  his  travelling 
inkstand  and  prepared  to  write  to  Miss  March.  It 
was  absolutely  necessary  that  he  should  write  this 
letter,  immediately,  for,  after  the  message  he  had  re 
ceived  from  the  lady  of  his  love,  no  time  should  be 
lost  in  putting  himself  in  communication  with  her. 
But,  before  beginning  to  write,  he  must  decide  upon 
the  spirit  of  his  letter. 

Under  the  very  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  ac 
ceptance,  he  did  not  feel  that  he  ought  to  indulge  in 
those  rapturous  expressions  of  ecstacy  in  which  he 
most  certainly  would  have  indulged,  if  the  lady  had 
personally  delivered  her  decision  to  him.  He  did 
not  doubt  her,  for  what  woman  would  play  a  joke 
like  that  on  a  man — upon  two  men,  in  fact  ?  Even 
if  there  were  no  other  reason  she  would  not  dare  to 
do  it.  Nor  did  he  doubt  Keswick.  It  would  have 
been  impossible  for  him  to  come  with  such  a  mes 
sage,  if  it  had  not  been  delivered  to  him.  And  yet 
Lawrence  could  not  bring  himself  to  be  rapturous. 
If  he  had  been  accepted  in  cold  blood,  and  a  hand, 
and  not  a  heart,  had  been  given  to  him,  he  would 
gladly  take  that  hand  and  trust  to  himself  to  so 
warm  the  heart  that  it,  also,  would  soon  be  his.  But 
he  did  not  know  what  Roberta  March  had  given  him. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  knew  very  well  if,  in 
his  first  letter  as  an  accepted  lover,  he  should  ex- 


310  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

hibit  any  of  that  caution  and  prudence  which,  in  the 
course  of  his  courtship,  had  proved  to  be  shoals  on 
which  he  had  very  nearly  run  aground,  that  Rob 
erta's  resentment,  which  had  shown  itself  very 
marked  in  this  regard,  would  probably  be  roused  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  affair  would  be  brought  to 
a  very  speedy  and  abrupt  termination.  If  she  had 
been  obliged  to  forgive  him,  once,  for  this  line  of 
conduct,  he  could  not  expect  her  to  do  it  again. 
To  write  a  letter,  which  should  err  in  neither  of 
these  respects,  was  a  very  difficult  thing  to  do,  and 
required  so  much  preparatory  thought,  that  when, 
toward  the  close  of  the  afternoon,  Miss  Annie  drove 
in  at  the  yard  gate,  with  Mrs  Keswick  on  the  seat 
beside  her,  not  a  line  had  been  written. 

Mrs  Keswick  descended  from  the  spring  wagon 
and  went  into  the  house,  but  Miss  Annie  remained 
at  the  bottom  of  the  steps,  for  the  apparent  purpose 
of  speaking  to  Plez  ;  perhaps  to  give  him  some  in 
structions  in  regard  to  the  leading  of  a  horse  to  its 
stable,  or  to  instil  into  his  mind  some  moral  princi 
ple  or  other  ;  but  the  moment  the  vehicle  moved 
away,  she  ran  over  to  the  office  and  tapped  at  the 
window,  which  was  quickly  opened  by  Lawrence. 

"  I  have  spoken  to  her  about  it,"  she  said,  "  and 
although  she  blazed  up  at  first,  so  that  I  thought  I 
should  be  burned  alive,  I  made  her  understand  just 
how  matters  really  are,  and  she  has  agreed  to  let 
you  stay  here  as  a  boarder." 

"  You  are  extremely  good,"  said  Lawrence,  "  and 
must  be  a  most  admirable  manager.  This  arrange- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  311 

ment  makes  me  feel  much  better  satisfied  than  I 
could  have  been,  otherwise."  Then  leaning  a  little 
further  out  of  the  window,  he  asked  :  "  But  what 
am  I  to  do  for  company,  while  I  am  shut  up  here  ?  " 

"Oh,  you  will  have  Uncle  Isham,  and  Aunt  Kes- 
wick,  and  sometimes  me.  But  I  hope  that  you  will 
soon  be  able  to  come  into  the  house,  and  take  your 
meals,  and  spend  your  evenings  with  us." 

"  You  have  nothing  but  good  wishes  for  me,"  he 
said,  "  and  I  believe,  if  you  could  manage  it,  you 
would  have  me  cured  by  magic,  and  sent  off,  well 
and  whole,  to-morrow." 

"  Of  course,"  said  Miss  Annie,  very  promptly. 
"  Good  night." 

Just  before  supper,  Mrs  Keswick  came  in  to  see 
Lawrence.  She  was  very  grave,  almost  severe,  and 
her  conversation  was  confined  to  inquiries  as  to  the 
state  of  his  ankle,  and  his  general  comfort.  But 
Lawrence  took  no  offence  at  her  manner,  and  was 
very  gracious,  saying  some  exceedingly  neat  things 
about  the  way  he  had  been  treated  ;  and,  after  a  lit 
tle,  her  manner  slightly  mollified,  and  she  remarked  : 
"  And  so  you  let  Miss  March  go  away,  without  set 
tling  anything." 

Now  Lawrence  considered  this  a  very  incorrect 
statement,  but  he  had  no  wish  to  set  the  old  lady 
right.  He  knew  it  would  joy  her  heart,  and  make 
her  more  his  friend  than,  ever  if  he  should  tell  her 
that  Miss  March  had  accepted  him,  but  this  would 
be  a  very  dangerous  piece  of  information  to  put  in 
her  hands.  He  did  not  know  what  use  she  would 


312  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

make  of  it,  or  what  damage  she  might  unwittingly 
do  W  his  prospects.  And  so  he  merely  answered  : 
"  I  had  no  idea  she  would  leave  so  soon." 

"  Well,"  said  the  old  lady,  "  I  suppose,  after  all, 
that  you  needn't  give  it  up  yet.  I  understand  that 
she  is  not  going  to  New  York  before  the  end  of  the 
month,  and  you  may  be  well  enough  before  that  to 
ride  over  to  Midbranch." 

"  I  hope  so,  most  assuredly,"  said  he. 

Lawrence  devoted  that  evening  to  his  letter.  It 
was  a  long  one,  and  was  written  with  a  most  earnest 
desire  to  embrace  all  the  merits  of  each  of  the  two 
kinds  of  letters,  which  have  before  been  alluded  to, 
and  to  avoid  all  their  faults.  When  it  was  finished, 
he  read  it,  tore  it  up,  and  threw  it  in  the  fire. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  next  day  opened  bright  and  clear,  and  before 
ten  o'clock,  the  thermometer  had  risen  to  seventy 
degrees.  Instead  of  sitting  in  front  of  the  fireplace, 
Lawrence  had  his  chair  and  table  brought  close  to 
his  open  door-way,  where  he  could  look  out  on  the 
same  beautiful  scene  which  had  greeted  his  eyes  a 
few  days  before.  "  But  what  is  the  good,"  he 
thought,  "  of  this  green  grass,  this  sunny  air,  that 
blue  sky,  those  white  clouds,  and  the  distant  tinted 
foliage,  without  that  figure,  which  a  few  days  ago 
stood  in  the  foreground  of  the  picture?"  But,  as 
the  woman  to  whom,  in  his  soul's  sight,  the  whole 
world  was  but  a  background,  was  not  there,  he 
turned  his  eyes  from  the  warm  autumnal  scene,  and 
prepared  again  to  write  to  her.  He  had  scarcely 
taken  up  his  pen,  however,  when  he  was  interrupted 
by  the  arrival  of  Miss  Annie,  who  came  to  bring  him 
a  book  she  had  just  finished  reading,  a  late  English 
novel  which  she  thought  might  be  more  interesting 
than  those  she  had  sent  him.  The  book  was  one 
which  Lawrence  had  not  seen  and  wanted  to  see,  but 
in  talking  about  it,  to  the  young  lady,  he  discovered 
that  she  had  not  read  all  of  it. 

"  Don't  let  me  deprive  you  of  the  book,"  said  Law- 


314  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

rence.  "  If  you  have  begun  it,  you  ought  to  go  on 
with  it." 

"  Oh,  don't  trouble  your  mind  about  that/'  she 
said,  with  a  laugh.  "  I  have  finished  it,  but  I  have 
not  read  a  word  of  the  beginning.  I  only  looked  at 
the  end  of  it,  to  see  how  the  story  turned  out.  I 
always  do  that,  before  I  read  a  novel." 

This  remark  much  amused  Lawrence.  "  Do  you 
know,"  said  he,  u  that  I  would  rather  not  read  novels 
at  all,  than  to  read  them  in  that  way.  I  must  begin 
at  the  beginning,  and  go  regularly  through,  as  the 
author  wishes  his  readers  to  do." 

"  And  perhaps,  when  you  get  to  the  end,"  said 
Miss  Annie,  "  you'll  find  that  the  wrong  man  got  her, 
and  then  you'll  wish  you  had  not  read  the  story." 

"  As  you  appear  to  be  satisfied  with  this  novel," 
said  Lawrence,  "  I  wish  you  would  read  it  to  me, 
and  then  I  would  feel  that  I  was  not  taking  an  un- 
courteous  precedence  of  you." 

"  I'll  read  it  to  you,"  said  she,  "  or,  at  least,  as 
much  as  you  want  me  to,  for  I  feel  quite  sure  that 
after  you  get  interested  in  it,  you  will  want  to  take 
it,  yourself,  and  read  straight  on  till  it  is  finished, 
instead  of  waiting  for  some  one  to  come  and  give 
you  a  chapter  or  two  at  a  time.  That  would  be  the 
way  with  me,  I  know." 

"  I  shall  be  delighted  to  have  you  read  to  me,"  said 
Lawrence.  "  When  can  you  begin  ?  " 

"  Now,"  she  said,  "  if  you  choose.  But  perhaps 
you  wish  to  write." 

"  Not  at  this   moment,"  said   Lawrence,  turning 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  315 

from  the  table.  "  Unfortunately  I  have  plenty  of 
leisure.  Where  will  you  sit  ?"  And  he  reached  out 
his  hand  for  a  chair. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  want  a  chair,"  said  Annie,  taking  her 
seat  on  the  broad  door-step.  "  This  is  exactly  what 
I  like.  I  am  devoted  to  sitting  on  steps.  Don't 
you  think  there  is  something  dreadfully  stiff  about 
always  being  perched  up  in  a  chair  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "  on  some  occasions." 

And,  forthwith,  she  began  upon  the  first  chapter ; 
and  having  read  five  lines  of  this,  she  went  back  and 
read  the  title  page,  suddenly  remembering  that  Mr 
Croft  liked  to  begin  a  book  at  the  very  beginning. 
Miss  Annie  had  been  accustomed  to  read  to  her 
father,  and  she  read  aloud  very  well,  and  liked  it. 
As  she  sat  there,  shaded  by  a  great  locust  tree, 
which  had  dropped  so  many  yellow  leaves  upon  the 
grass,  that,  now  and  then,  it  could  not  help  letting  a 
little  fleck  of  sunshine  come  down  upon  her,  some 
times  gilding  for  a  moment  her  light-brown  hair, 
sometimes  touching  the  end  of  a  crimson  ribbon  she 
wore,  and  again  resting  for  a  brief  space  on  the  toe 
of  a  very  small  boot  just  visible  at  the  edge  of  her 
dress,  Lawrence  looked  at  her,  and  said  to  himself : 
"  Is  it  possible  that  this  is  the  rather  pale  young 
girl  in  black,  who  gave  me  change  from  behind 
the  desk  of  Mr  Candy's  Information  Shop  ?  I  don't 
believe  it.  That  young  person  sprang  up,  tempo 
rarily,  and  is  defunct.  This  is  some  one  else." 

She  read  three  chapters  before  she  considered  it 
time  to  go  into  the  house  to  see  if  it  was  necessary 


316  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

for  her  to  do  anything  about  dinner.  When  she  left 
him,  Lawrence  turned  again  to  his  writing. 

That  afternoon,  he  sent  Mrs  Null  a  little  note  on 
the  back  of  a  card,  asking  her  if  she  could  let  him 
have  a  few  more  sheets  of  paper.  Lawrence  found 
this  request  necessary,  as  he  had  used  up  that  day 
all  the  paper  she  had  sent  him,  and  the  small  torn 
pieces  of  it  now  littered  the  fireplace. 

"  He  must  be  writing  a  diary  letter,"  said  Miss 
Annie  to  herself  when,  she  received  this  message, 
"  such  as  we  girls  used  to  write  when  we  were  at 
school."  And,  bringing  down  a  little  the  corners 
of  her  mouth,  she  took  from  her  stationery  box 
what  she  thought  would  be  quite  paper  enough  to 
send  to  a  man  for  such  a  purpose. 

But,  although  the  means  were  thus  made  abun 
dant,  the  letter  to  Miss  March  was  not  then  written. 
Lawrence  finally  determined  that  it  was  simply 
impossible  for  him  to  write  to  the  lady,  until  he 
knew  more.  What  Keswick  had  told  him  had 
been  absurdly  little,  and  he  had  hurried  away 
before  there  had  been  time  to  ask  further  ques 
tions.  Instead  of  sending  a  letter  to  Miss  March, 
he  would  write  to  Keswick,  and  would  put  to  him 
a  series  of  interrogations,  the  answers  to  which 
would  make  him  understand  better  the  position 
in  which  he  stood.  Then  he  would  write  to  Miss 
March. 

The  next  day  Miss  Annie  could  not  read  to  him 
in  the  morning,  because,  as  she  came  and  told  him, 
she  was  going  to  Hewlett's,  on  an  errand  for  her 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  317 

aunt.  But  there  would  be  time  to  give  him  a 
chapter  or  two  before  dinner,  when  she  came  back. 

"  Would  it  be  any  trouble,"  said  Lawrence,  "  for 
you  to  mail  a  letter  for  me?" 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Miss  Annie,  but  not  precisely  in 
the  same  tone  in  which  she  would  have  told  him 
that  it  would  be  no  trouble  to  read  to  him  two  or 
three  chapters  of  a  novel.  And  yet  she  would 
pass  directly  by  the  residence  of  Miss  Harriet 
Corvey,  the  post-mistress. 

As  Miss  Annie  walked  along  the  narrow  path 
which  ran  by  the  roadside  to  Hewlett's,  with  the 
blue  sky  above  her,  and  the  pleasant  October  sun 
shine  all  about  her,  and  followed  at  a  little  distance 
by  the  boy  Plez,  carrying  a  basket,  she  did  not  seem 
to  be  taking  that  enjoyment  in  her  walk  which  was 
her  wont.  Her  brows  were  slightly  contracted  and 
she  looked  straight  in  front  of  her,  without  seeing 
anything  in  particular,  after  the  manner  of  persons 
whose  attention  is  entirely  occupied  in  looking 
into  their  own  minds,  at  something  they  do  not 
like.  "  It  is  too  much!"  she  said,  almost  loud,  her 
brows  contracting  a  little  more  as  she  spoke.  "  It 
was  bad  enough  to  have  to  furnish  the  paper,  but  for 
me  to  have  to  carry  the  letter,  is  entirely  too  much  !  " 
And,  at  this,  she  involuntarily  glanced  at  the  thick 
and  double  stamped  missive,  which,  having  no 
pocket,  she  carried  in  her  hand.  She  had  not 
looked  at  it  before,  and  as  her  eyes  fell  upon  the 
address,  she  stopped  so  suddenly  that  Plez,  who 
was  dozing  as  he  walked,  nearly  ran  into  her. 


318  The  Late  Mrs  Null 

"What!  "she  exclaimed,  "'Junius  Keswick,  five 
Q  street,  Washington,  District  of  Columbia ! '  Is 
it  possible  that  Mr  Croft  has  been  writing  to 
him,  all  this  time?"  She  now  walked  on;  and 
although  she  still  seemed  to  notice  not  the  ma 
terial  objects  around  her,  the  frown  disappeared 
from  her  brow,  and  her  mental  vision  seemed 
to  be  fixed  upon  something  more  pleasant  than 
that  which  had  occupied  it  before.  As  it  will  be 
remembered,  she  had  refused  positively  to  have  any 
thing  to  do  with  Lawrence's  suit  to  Miss  March, 
and  it  was  a  relief  to  her  to  know  that  the  letter 
she  was  carrying  was  not  for  that  lady.  "  But  why," 
thought  she,  "  should  he  be  writing,  for  two  whole 
evenings,  to  Junius.  I  expected  that  he  would 
write  to  her,  to  find  out  why  she  went  off  and  left 
him  in  that  way,  but  I  did  not  suppose  he  would 
want  to  write  to  Junius.  It  seems  to  me  they  had 
time  enough,  that  night  they  were  together,  to  talk 
over  everything  they  had  to  say." 

And  then  she  began  to  wonder  what  they  had  to 
say,  and,  gradually,  the  conviction  grew  upon  her 
that  Mr  Croft  was  a  very,  very  honorable  man.  Of 
course  it  was  wrong  that  he  should  have  come  here 
to  try  to  win  a  lady  who,  if  one  looked  at  it  in  the 
proper  light,  really  belonged  to  another.  But  it 
now  came  into  her  mind  that  Mr  Croft  must,  by 
degrees,  have  seen  this,  for  himself,  and  that  it  was 
the  subject  of  his  long  conference  with  Junius,  and 
also,  most  probably,  of  this  letter.  The  conference 
certainly  ended  amicably,  and,  in  that  case,  it  was 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  319 

scarcely  possible  that  Junius  had  given  up  his  claim. 
He  was  not  that  kind  of  a  man. 

If  Mr  Croft  had  become  convinced  that  he  ought 
to  retire  from  this  contest,  and  had  done  so,  and 
Roberta  had  been  informed  of  it,  that  would  explain 
everything  that  had  happened.  Roberta's  state  of 
mind,  after  she  had  had  the  talk  in  the  parlor 
with  Junius,  and  her  hurried  departure,  without 
taking  the  slightest  notice  of  either  of  the  gen 
tlemen,  was  quite  natural.  What  woman  would 
like  to  know  that  she  had  been  bargained  about, 
and  that  her  two  lovers  had  agreed  which  of  them 
should  have  her  ?  It  was  quite  to  be  expected  that 
she  would  be  very  angry,  at  first,  though  there  was 
no  doubt  she  would  get  over  it,  so  far  as  Junius  was 
concerned. 

Having  thus  decided,  entirely  to  her  own  satis 
faction,  that  this  was  the  state  of  affairs,  she  thought 
it  was  a  grand  thing  that  there  were  two  such  young 
men  in  the  world,  as  her  cousin  and  Mr  Croft,  who 
could  arrange  such  an  affair  in  so  kindly  and  honorable 
a  manner,  without  feeling  that  they  were  obliged  to 
fight — that  horribly  stupid  way  in  which  such  things 
used  to  be  settled. 

This  vision  of  masculine  high-mindedness,  which 
Miss  Annie  had  called  up,  seemed  very  pleasant  to 
her,  and  her  mental  satisfaction  was  denoted  by  a 
pretty  little  glow  which  came  into  her  face,  and 
by  a  certain  increase  of  sprightliness  in  her  walk. 
"  Now  then,—  "  she  said  to  herself ;  and  although 
she  did  not  finish  the  sentence,  even  in  her  own 


320  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

mind,  the  sky  increased  the  intensity  of  its  beau 
tiful  blue ;  the  sun  began  to  shine  with  a  more 
golden  radiance ;  the  little  birds  who  had  not  yet 
gone  South,  chirped  to  each  other  as  merrily  as 
if  it  had  been  early  summer ;  the  yellow  and  purple 
wild  flowers  of  autumn  threw  into  their  blossoms  a 
richer  coloring;  and  even  the  blades  of  grass  seemed 
to  stretch  themselves  upward,  green,  tender,  and 
promising ;  and  when  the  young  lady  skipped  up 
the  step  of  the  post-office,  she  dropped  the  letter 
into  Miss  Harriet  Corvey's  little  box,  with  the  air 
of  a  mother-bird  feeding  a  young  one  with  the  first 
ripe  cherry  of  the  year. 

A  day  or  two  after  this,  Lawrence  found  himself 
able,  by  the  aid  of  a  cane  and  a  rude  crutch,  which 
Uncle  Isham  had  made  for  him  and  the  top  of 
which  Mrs  Keswick  had  carefully  padded,  to  make 
his  way  from  the  office  to  the  house  ;  and,  after  that, 
he  took  his  meals,  and  passed  the  greater  part  of  his 
time  in  the  larger  edifice.  Sometimes,  he  ransacked 
the  old  library  ;  sometimes,  Miss  Annie  read  to  him  ; 
and  sometimes,  he  read  to  her.  In  the  evening,  there 
were  games  of  cards,  in  which  the  old  lady  would 
occasionally  take  a  hand,  although  more  frequently 
Miss  Annie  and  Mr  Croft  were  obliged  to  content 
themselves  with  some  game  at  v/hich  two  could  play. 
But  the  pleasantest  hours,  perhaps,  were  those  which 
were  spent  in  talking,  for  Lawrence  had  travelled  a 
good  deal,  and  had  seen  so  many  of  the  things  in 
foreign  lands  which  Miss  Annie  had  always  wished 
that  she  could  see. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  321 

Lawrence  was  waiting  until  he  should  hear  from 
Mr  Keswick ;  so  that,  with  some  confidence  in  his 
position,  he  could  write  to  Miss  March.  His  trunk 
had  been  sent  over  from  the  Green  Sulphur  Springs, 
and  he  was  much  better  satisfied  to  wait  here  than 
at  that  deserted  watering-place.  It  was,  indeed,  a 
very  agreeable  spot  in  which  to  wait,  and  quite  near 
enough  to  Midbranch  for  him  to  carry  on  his  desired 
operations,  when  the  time  should  arrive.  He  was  a 
little  annoyed  that  Keswick's  answer  should  be  so 
long  in  coming,  but  he  resolved  not  to  worry  himself 
about  it.  The  answer  was,  probably,  a  difficult  letter 
to  write,  and  one  which  Keswick  would  not  be  likely 
to  dash  off  in  a  hurry.  He  remembered,  too,  that 
the  mail  was  sent  and  received  only  twice  a  week  at 
Hewlett's. 

Old  Mrs  Keswick  was  kind  to  him,  but  grave,  and 
rather  silent.  Once  she  passed  the  open  door  of 
the  parlor,  by  the  window  of  which  sat  Miss  Annie 
and  Lawrence,  deeply  engaged,  their  heads  together, 
in  studying  out  something  on  a  map,  and  as  she 
went  upstairs  she  grimly  grinned,  and  said  to  her 
self :  "  If  that  Null  could  look  in  and  see  them  now, 
I  reckon  our  young  man  would  wish  he  had  the  use 
of  all  his  arms  and  legs." 

But  if  Mr  Null  should  disapprove  of  his  wife  and 
that  gentleman  from  New  York  spending  so  much 
of  their  time  together,  old  Mrs  Keswick  had  not  the 
least  objection  in  the  world.  She  was  well  satisfied 
that  Mr  Croft  should  find  it  interesting  enough  to 
stay  here  until  the  time  came  when  he  should  be 

21 


322  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

able  to  go  to  Midbranch.  When  that  period  arrived 
she  would  not  be  slow  to  urge  him  to  his  duty,  in 
spite  of  any  obstacles  Mr  Brandon  might  put  in  his 
way.  So,  for  the  present,  she  possessed  her  soul  in 
as  much  peace  as  the  soul  of  a  headstrong  and  very 
wilful  old  lady  is  capable  of  being  possessed. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

THE  letter  which  Lawrence  Croft  had  written  to 
Junius  Keswick  was  not  answered  for  more  than  a 
week,  and  when  the  answer  arrived,  it  did  not  come 
through  the  Hewlett's  post-office,  but  was  brought 
from  a  mail  station  on  the  railway  by  a  special  mes 
senger.  In  this  epistle  Mr  Keswick  stated  that  he 
would  have  written  much  sooner  but  for  the  fact 
that  he  had  been  away  from  Washington,  and  hav 
ing  just  returned,  had  found  Mr  Croft's  letter  wait 
ing  for  him.  The  answer  was  written  in  a  tone 
which  Lawrence  did  not  at  all  expect.  It  breathed 
the  spirit  of  a  man  who  was  determined,  and  almost 
defiant.  It  told  Mr  Croft  that  the  writer  did  not 
now  believe  that  Miss  March's  acceptance  of  the  said 
Mr  Croft,  should  be  considered  of  any  value,  what 
ever.  It  was  the  result  of  a  very  peculiar  condition 
of  things,  in  which  he  regretted  having  taken  a  part, 
and  it  was  given  in  a  moment  of  pique  and  indigna 
tion,  which  gave  Miss  March  a  right  to  reconsider 
her  hasty  decision,  if  she  chose  to  do  so.  It  would 
not  be  fair  for  either  of  them  to  accept,  as  conclu 
sive,  words  said  under  the  extraordinary  circum 
stances  which  surrounded  Miss  March  when  she 
said  those  words. 


324  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  You  asked  me  to  do  you  a  favor,"  wrote  Jun- 
ius  Keswick,  "  and,  very  much  against  my  incli 
nation,  and  against  what  is  now  my  judgment,  I  did 
it.  I  now  ask  you  to  do  me  a  favor,  and  I  do  not 
think  you  should  refuse  it.  I  ask  you  not  to  com 
municate  with  Miss  March  until  I  have  seen  her, 
and  have  obtained  from  her  an  explanation  of  the 
acceptance  in  question.  I  have  a  right  to  this 
explanation,  and  I  feel  confident  that  it  will  be 
given  to  me.  You  ask  me  what  I  truly  believe 
Miss  March  meant  by  her  message  to  you.  I  an 
swer  that  I  do  not  know,  but  I  intend  to  find 
out  what  she  meant,  and  as  soon  as  I  do  so,  I 
will  write  to  you.  I  think,  therefore,  considering 
what  you  have  asked  me  to  do,  and  what  you  have 
written  to  me,  about  what  I  have  done,  that  you 
cannot  refuse  to  abstain  from  any  further  action  in 
the  matter,  until  I  am  enabled  to  answer  you.  I 
cannot  leave  Washington  immediately,  but  I  shall 
go  to  Midbranch  in  a  very  few  days." 

This  letter  was  very  far  from  being  a  categorical 
answer  to  Lawrence's  questions,  and  it  disappointed 
and  somewhat  annoyed  that  gentleman ;  but  after  he 
had  read  it  for  the  second  time,  and  carefully  con 
sidered  it,  he  put  it  in  his  pocket  and  said  to  himself, 
"  This  ends  all  discussion  of  this  subject.  Mr  Kes 
wick  may  be  right  in  the  position  he  takes,  or  he 
may  be  wrong.  He  may  go  to  Midbranch  ;  he  may 
get  his  explanation  ;  and  he  may  send  it  to  me. 
But,  without  any  regard  to  what  he  does,  or  says, 
or  writes,  I  shall  go  to  Miss  March  as  soon  as  I  am 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  325 

able  to  use  my  ankle,  and,  whether  she  be  at  her 
uncle's  house,  or  whether  she  has  gone  to  New 
York,  or  to  any  other  place,  I  shall  see  her,  and, 
myself,  obtain  from  her  an  explanation  of  this  ac 
ceptance.  This  is  due  to  me  as  well. as  to  Mr  Kes- 
wick,  and  if  he  thinks  he  ought  to  get  it,  for  himself, 
I  also  think  I  ought  to  get  it,  for  myself." 

The  good  results  of  Lawrence's  great  care  in  regard 
to  his  injured  ankle  soon  began  to  show  themselves. 
The  joint  had  slowly  but  steadily  regained  its  strength 
and  usual  healthy  condition ;  and  Lawrence  now 
found  that  he  could  walk  about  without  the  assist 
ance  of  his  rude  crutch.  He  was  still  prudent,  how 
ever,  and  took  but  very  short  walks,  and  in  these  he 
leaned  upon  his  trusty  cane.  The  charming  autumn 
days,  which  often  come  to  Virginia  in  late  October 
and  early  November,  were  now  at  their  best.  Day 
after  day,  the  sun  shone  brightly,  but  there  was  in 
the  air  an  invigorating  coolness,  which  made  its 
radiance  something  to  be  sought  for  and  not 
avoided. 

It  was  just  after  dinner,  and  it  was  Saturday 
afternoon,  when  Miss  Annie  announced  that  she  was 
going  to  see  old  Aunt  Patsy,  whom  she  had  some 
what  neglected  of  late. 

"  May  I  go  with  you  ?  "  said  Lawrence. 

Miss  Annie  shook  her  head  doubtfully.  "  I  should 
be  very  glad  to  have  your  company,"  she  said,  "  but 
I  am  afraid  it  will  be  entirely  too  much  of  a  walk 
for  you.  The  days  are  so  short  that  the  sun  will  be 
low  before  we  could  get  back,  and  if  you  should  be 


326  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

tired,  it  would  not  do  for  you  to  sit  down  and  rest, 
at  that  time  of  day." 

"  I  believe,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that  my  ankle  is 
quite  strong  enough  for  me  to  walk  to  Aunt  Patsy's 
and  back,  without  sitting  down  to  rest.  I  would  be 
very  glad  to  go  with  you,  and  I  would  like,  too,  to 
see  that  venerable  colored  woman  again." 

<k  Well,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "  if  you  really  think  you 
can  walk  so  far,  it  will  be  very  nice  indeed  to  have 
you  go,  but  you  ought  to  feel  very  sure  that  it  will 
not  hurt  you." 

"  Come  along,"  said  Lawrence,  taking  up  his  hat 
and  cane. 

After  a  man  has  been  shut  up,  as  Lawrence  had 
been,  a  pleasant  ramble  like  this  is  a  most  delightful 
change,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  manifest  his 
pleasure.  This  touched  the  very  sensitive  soul  of 
his  companion,  and  with  such  a  sparkle  of  talk  did 
she  evince  her  gratification,  that  almost  any  one 
would  have  been  able  to  see  that  she  was  a  young 
lady  who  had  an  earnest  sympathy  with  those  who 
had  undergone  afflictions,  but  were  now  freed  from 
them. 

Aunt  Patsy  was  glad  to  see  her  visitors,  particu 
larly  glad,  it  seemed,  to  see  Mr  Croft.  She  was 
quite  loquacious,  considering  the  great  length  of  her 
days,  and  the  proverbial  shortness  of  her  tongue. 

"  Why,  Aunt  Patsy,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "you  seem 
to  have  grown  younger  since  I  last  saw  you  !  I  do 
believe  you  are  getting  old  backwards !  What  are 
you  going  to  do  with  that  dress-body  ?" 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  327 


"  I's  lookin'  at  dis  h'yar,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  turn 
ing  over  the  well-worn  body  of  a  black  woollen  dress 
which  lay  in  her  lap,  instead  of  the  crazy  quilt 
on  which  she  was  usually  occupied,  "  to  see  if  it's 
done  gib  way  in  any  ob  de  seams,  or  de  elbers. 
'Twas  a  right  smart  good  frock  once,  an'  I's  gwine 
to  wear  it  ter-morrer." 

"  To-morrow  !"  exclaimed  Annie.  "You  don't 
mean  to  say  you  are  going  to  church !  " 

"  Dat's  jus'  wot  I's  gwine  to  do,  Miss  Annie.  I's 
gwine  to  chu'ch  ter-morrer  mawnin'.  Bar's  gwine  to 
be  a  big  preachin'.  Brudder  Enick  Hines  is  to  be 
dar,  an'  dey  tell  me  dey  allus  has  pow'ful  wakenin's 
when  Brudder  Enick  preaches.  I  ain't  ever  heered 
Brudder  Enick  yit,  coz  he  was  a  little  boy  when  I 
use  to  go  to  chu'ch." 

"  Will  it  be  in  the  old  church,  in  the  woods  just 
beyond  Hewlett's?"  asked  Annie. 

"  Right  dar,"  replied  Aunt  Patsy,  with  an  approv 
ing  glance  towards  the  young  lady.  "  You  'mem 
bers  dem  ar  places  fus'  rate,  Miss  Annie.  Why  you 
didn't  tole  me,  when  you  fus'  come  h'yar,  dat  you 
was  dat  little  Miss  Annie  dat  I  use  to  tote  roun' 
afore  I  gin  up  walkin'  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that's  too  long  a  story,"  said  Miss  Annie, 
with  a  laugh.  "  You  know  I  hadn't  seen  Aunt  Kes- 
wick,  then.  I  couldn't  go  about  introducing  myself 
to  other  people  before  I  had  seen  her." 

Aunt  Patsy  gave  a  sagacious  nod  of  her  head. 
"  I  reckon  you  thought  she'd  be  right  much  dis 
gruntled  when  she  heered  you  was  mar'ed,  an'  you 


328  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

wanted  to  tell  her  youse'f.  But  I's  pow'ful  glad  dat 
it's  all  right  now.  You  all  don'  know  how  pow'ful 
glad  I  is."  And  she  looked  at  Mr  Croft  and  Miss 
Annie  with  a  glance  as  benignant  as  her  time-set 
countenance  was  capable  of. 

"  But  Aunt  Patsy,"  said  Annie,  quite  willing  to 
change  the  conversation,  although  she  did  not  know 
the  import  of  the  old  woman's  last  remark,  "  I 
thought  you  were  not  able  to  go  out." 

The  old  woman  gave  a  little  chuckle.  "  Dat's 
wot  eberybody  thought,  an'  to  tell  you  de  truf,  Miss 
Annie,  I  thought  so  too.  But  ef  I  was  strong  'nuf 
to  go  to  de  pos'-offis, — an'  I  did  dat,  Miss  Annie,  an' 
not  long  ago  nuther, — I  reckon  I's  strong  'nuf  to  go 
to  chu'ch,  an'  Uncle  Isham  is  a  comin'  wid  de  ox 
cart  to  take  me  ter-morrer  mawnin'.  Dar'll  be 
pow'ful  wakenin's,  an'  I  ain't  seen  de  Jerus'lum 
Jump  in  a  mighty  long  time." 

"Are  they  going  to  have  the  Jerusalem  Jump?" 
asked  Miss  Annie. 

"  Oh,  yaas,  Miss  Annie,"  said  the  old  woman, 
"  dey's  sartin  shuh  to  hab  dat,  when  dey  gits  wak- 
en'd." 

"  I  should  so  like  to  see  the  Jerusalem  Jump 
again,"  said  Miss  Annie.  "  I  saw  it  once,  when  I 
was  a  little  girl.  Did  you  ever  see  it  ?  "  she  said, 
turning  to  Mr  Croft. 

"  I  have  not,"  he  answered.  "  I  never  even  heard 
of  it." 

"  Suppose  we  go  to-morrow,  and  hear  Brother 
Enoch,"  she  said. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  329 

"  I  should  like  it  very  much,"  answered  Lawrence. 

"  Aunt  Patsy,"  said  Miss  Annie,  "  would  there 
be  any  objection  to  our  going  to  your  church  to 
morrow  ?  " 

The  old  woman  gave  her  head  a  little  shake. 
"Dunno,"  she  said.  "As  a  gin'ral  rule  we  don't 
like  white  folks  at  our  preachin's.  Dey's  got  dar 
chu'ches,  an'  dar  ways,  an'  we's  got  our  chu'ches,  an' 
our  ways.  But  den  it's  dif'rent  wid  you  all.  An' 
you  all's  not  like  white  folks  in  gin'ral,  an'  'specially 
strawngers.  You  all  isn't  strawngers  now.  I  don't 
reckon  dar'll  be  no  'jections  to  your  comin',  ef  you 
set  sollum,  an'  I  know  you'll  do  dat,  Miss  Annie, 
coz  you  did  it  when  you  was  a  little  gal.  An'  I 
reckon  it'll  be  de  same  wid  him?"  looking  at  Mr 
Croft. 

Miss  Annie  assured  her  that  she  and  her  com 
panion  would  be  certain  to  "  sit  solemn,"  and  that 
they  would  not  think  of  such  a  thing  as  going  to 
church  and  behaving  indecorously. 

"Dar  is  white  folks,"  said  Aunt  Patsy,  "wot 
comes  to  a  culled  chu'ch  fur  nothin'  else  but  to  larf. 
De  debbil  gits  dem  folks,  but  dat  don'  do  us  no 
good,  Miss  Annie,  an'  we'd  rudder  dey  stay  away. 
But  you  all's  not  dat  kine.  I  knows  dat,  sartin 
shuh." 

When  the  two  had  taken  leave  of  the  old  woman, 
and  Miss  Annie  had  gone  out  of  the  door,  Aunt 
Patsy  leaned  very  far  forward,  and  stretching  out 
her  long  arm,  seized  Mr  Croft  by  the  skirt  of  his 
coat.  He  stepped  back,  quite  surprised,  and  then 


330  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

she  said  to  him,  in  a  low  but  very  earnest  voice  :  "  I 
reckon  dat  dat  ar  sprain  ankle  was  nuffm  but  a  acci- 
den';  but  you  look  out,  sah,  you  look  out!  Hab 
you  got  dem  little  shoes  handy?" 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Lawrence.  "  I  have  them  in  my 
trunk." 

u  Keep  'em  whar  you  kin  put  your  han'  on  'em/' 
said  Aunt  Patsy,  impressively.  "  You  may  want 
'em  yit.  You  min'  my  wuds." 

"  I  shall  be  sure  to  remember,"  said  Lawrence,  as 
he  hastened  out  to  rejoin  Annie. 

"  What  in  the  world  had  Aunt  Patsy  to  say  to 
you  ?  "  asked  that  somewhat  surprised  young  lady. 

Then  Lawrence  told  her  how  some  time  before 
Aunt  Patsy  had  given  him  a  pair  of  blue  shoes, 
which  she  said  would  act  as  a  preventive  charm,  in 
case  Mrs  Keswick  should  ever  wish  to  do  him  harm, 
and  that  she  had  now  called  him  back  to  remind 
him  not  to  neglect  this  means  of  personal  protec 
tion.  "  I  can't  imagine,"  said  Lawrence,  "  that  your 
aunt  would  ever  think  of  such  a  thing  as  doing  me 
a  harm,  or  how  those  little  shoes  would  prevent  her, 
if  she  wanted  to,  but  I  suppose  Aunt  Patsy  is  crack- 
brained  on  some  subjects,  and  so  I  thought  it  best 
to  humor  her,  and  took  the  shoes." 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  Miss  Annie,  after  walking  a 
little  distance  in  silence,  "  that  I  am  afraid  Aunt 
Patsy  has  done  a  dreadful  thing,  and  one  I  never 
should  have  suspected  her  of.  Aunt  Keswick  had 
a  little  baby  once,  and  it  died  very  young.  She 
keeps  its  clothes  in  a  box,  and  I  remember  when  I 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  331 

was  a  little  girl  that  she  once  showed  them  to  me, 
and  told  me  I  was  to  take  the  place  of  that  little 
girl,  and  that  frightened  me  dreadfully,  because  I 
thought  that  I  would  have  to  die,  and  have  my 
clothes  put  in  a  box.  I  recollect  perfectly  that 
there  was  a  pair  of  little  blue  shoes  among  these 
clothes,  and  Aunt  Patsy  must  have  stolen  them." 

"  That  surprises  me,"  said  Lawrence.  "  I  sup 
posed,  from  what  I  had  heard  of  the  old  woman, 
that  she  was  perfectly  honest." 

"  So  she  is,"  said  Annie.  "  She  has  been  a  trusted 
servant  in  our  family  nearly  all  her  life.  But  some 
negroes  have  very  queer  ideas  about  taking  certain 
things,  and  I  suppose  Aunt  Patsy  had  some  particu 
lar  reason  for  taking  those  shoes,  for,  of  course,  they 
could  be  of  no  value  to  her." 

"I  am  very  sorry,"  said  Lawrence,  "that  such 
sacred  relics  should  have  come  into  my  possession, 
but  I  must  admit  that  I  would  not  like  to  give  them 
back  to  your  aunt." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Annie,  "  that  would  never  do  ;  and 
I  wouldn't  dare  to  try  to  find  her  box,  and  put  them 
in  it.  It  would  seem  like  a  desecration  for  any  hand 
but  her  own  to  touch  those  things." 

"  That  is  true,"  said  Lawrence,  "  and  you  might 
get  yourself  into  a  lot  of  trouble  by  endeavoring  to 
repair  the  mischief.  Before  I  leave  here,  we  may 
think  of  some  plan  of  disposing  of  the  little  trotters. 
It  might  be  well  to  give  them  back  to  Aunt  Patsy 
and  tell  her  to  restore  them." 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Miss  Annie,  with  a  slowness 


332  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

of  reply,  and  an  irrelevance  of  demeanor,  which  in 
dicated  she  was  not  thinking  of  the  words  she  was 
speaking. 

The  sun  was  now  very  near  the  horizon,  and  that 
evening  coolness  which,  in  the  autumn,  comes  on  so 
quickly  after  the  sunshine  fades  out  of  the  air,  made 
Lawrence  give  a  little  shrug  with  his  shoulders. 
He  proposed  that  they  should  quicken  their  pace, 
and  as  his  companion  made  no  objection,  they  soon 
reached  the  house. 

The  next  day  being  Sunday,  breakfast  was  rather 
later  than  usual,  and  as  Lawrence  looked  out  on 
the  bright  morning,  with  the  mists  just  disengag 
ing  themselves  from  the  many-hued  foliage  which 
crowned  the  tops  of  the  surrounding  hills ;  and  on 
the  recently  risen  sun,  hanging  in  an  atmosphere  of 
grey  and  lilac,  with  the  smile  of  Indian  summer  on 
its  face ;  he  thought  he  would  like  to  take  a  stroll, 
before  that  meal  ;  but  either  the  length  of  his 
walk  on  the  previous  day,  or  the  rapidity  of  the  lat 
ter  portion  of  it,  had  been  rather  too  much  for  the 
newly-recovered  strength  of  his  ankle,  which  now  felt 
somewhat  stiff  and  sore.  When  he  mentioned  this 
at  the  breakfast  table,  he  received  a  good  deal  of 
condolence  from  the  two  ladies,  especially  Mrs  Kes- 
wick.  And,  at  first,  it  was  thought  that  it  might  be 
well  for  him  to  give  up  his  proposed  attendance  at 
the  negro  church.  But  to  this  Lawrence  strongly 
objected,  for  he  very  much  desired  to  see  some  of 
the  peculiar  religious  services  of  the  negroes.  He 
had  been  talking  on  the  subject  the  evening  before 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  333 

with  Mrs  Keswick,  who  had  told  him  that  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  which  lay  in  the  "  black  belt  " 
of  Virginia,  where  the  negro  population  had  always 
been  thickest,  these  ceremonies  were  more  charac 
teristic  of  the  religious  disposition  of  the  African, 
than  in  those  sections  of  the  State  where  the  white 
race  exerted  a  greater  influence  upon  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  colored  people. 

"  But  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  walk  much/'  said 
Miss  Annie.  "  We  can  take  the  spring-wagon,  and 
you  can  go  with  us,  aunt." 

The  old  lady  permitted  herself  a  little  grin. 
"  When  I  go  to  church,"  she  said,  u  I  go  to  a  white 
folks'  church,  and  try  to  see  what  I  can  of  white 
folks'  Christianity,  though  I  must  say  that  Christian 
ity  of  the  other  color  is  often  just  as  good,  as  far  as 
works  go.  But  it  is  natural  that  a  stranger  should 
want  to  see  what  kind  of  services  the  colored  people 
have,  so  you  two  might  as  well  get  into  the  spring- 
wagon  and  go  along." 

"  But  shall  we  not  deprive  you  of  the  vehicle  ?  " 
said  Lawrence. 

"  I  never  go  to  church  in  the  spring-wagon,"  said 
the  old  lady,  "  so  long  as  I  am  able  to  walk.  And, 
besides,  this  is  not  our  Sunday  for  preaching." 

It  seemed  to  Lawrence  that  an  elderly  person  who 
went  about  in  a  purple  calico  sun-bonnet,  and  with 
an  umbrella  of  the  same  material,  might  go  to 
church  in  a  wheelbarrow,  so  far  as  appearances  were 
concerned,  but  he  had  long  ceased  to  wonder  at  Mrs 
Keswick's  idiosyncrasies. 


334  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  I  remember  very  well,"  said  Miss  Annie,  after 
the  old  lady  had  left  the  table,  which  she  always  did 
as  soon  as  she  had  finished  a  meal,  "  when  Aunt 
Keswick  used  to  go  to  church  in  a  big  family  car 
riage,  which  is  now  sleeping  itself  to  pieces  out 
there  in  the  barn.  But  then  she  had  a  pair  of  big 
gray  horses,  one  of  them  named  Doctor  and  the  other 
Colonel.  But  now  she  has  only  one  horse,  and  I  am 
going  to  tell  Uncle  Isham  to  harness  that  one  up 
before  he  goes  to  church  himself.  You  know  he  is 
to  take  Aunt  Patsy  in  the  ox-cart,  so  he  will  have  to 
go  early." 

They  went  to  the  negro  church  in  the  spring- 
wagon,  Lawrence  driving  the  jogging  sorrel,  and 
Miss  Annie  on  the  seat  beside  him.  When 
they  reached  the  old  frame  edifice  in  the  woods  be 
yond  Hewlett's,  they  found  gathered  there  quite  a 
large  assemblage,  for  this  was  one  of  those  very  at 
tractive  occasions  called  a  "  big  preaching."  Horses 
and  mules,  and  wagons  of  various  kinds,  many  of  the 
latter  containing  baskets  of  refreshments,  were 
standing  about  under  the  trees  ;  and  Mrs  Keswick's 
cart  and  oxen,  tethered  to  a  little  pine  tree,  gave 
proof  that  Aunt  Patsy  had  arrived.  The  inside  of 
the  church  was  nearly  full,  and  outside,  around  the 
door,  stood  a  large  number  of  men  and  boys. 
The  white  visitors  were  looked  upon  with  some 
surprise,  but  way  was  made  for  them  to  approach 
the  door,  and  as  soon  as  they  entered  the  building  two 
of  the  officers  of  the  church  came  forward  to  show 
them  to  one  of  the  uppermost  seats;  but  this  honor 


The  Late  Mrs  Nitll.  335 

Miss  Annie  strenuously  declined.  She  preferred  a 
seat  near  the  open  door,  and  therefore  she  and  Mr 
Croft  were  given  a  bench  in  that  vicinity,  of  which 
they  had  sole  possession. 

To  Lawrence,  who  had  never  seen  anything  of 
the  sort,  the  services  which  now  began  were  ex 
ceedingly  interesting ;  and  as  Annie  had  not  been 
to  a  negro  church  since  she  was  a  little  girl,  and 
very  seldom  then,  she  gave  very  earnest  and  ani 
mated  attention  to  what  was  going  on.  The  sing 
ing,  as  it  always  is  among  the  negroes,  was  powerful 
and  melodious,  and  the  long  prayer  of  Brother 
Enoch  Hines  was  one  of  those  spirited  and  emo 
tional  statements  of  personal  condition,  and  wild 
and  ardent  supplication,  which  generally  pave  the 
way  for  a  most  powerful  awakening  in  an  assem 
blage  of  this  kind.  Another  hymn,  sung  in  more 
vigorous  tones  than  the  first  one,  warmed  up  the 
congregation  to  such  a  degree  that  when  Brother 
Hines  opened  the  Bible,  and  made  preparations  for 
his  discourse,  he  looked  out  upon  an  audience  as 
anxious  to  be  moved  and  stirred  as  he  was  to  move 
and  stir  it.  The  sermon  was  intended  to  be  a  long 
one,  for,  had  it  been  otherwise,  Brother  Hines  had 
lost  his  reputation ;  and,  therefore,  the  preacher,  after 
a  few  prefatory  statements,  delivered  in  a  grave  and 
solemn  manner,  plunged  boldly  into  the  midst  of  his 
exhortations,  knowing  that  he  could  go  either  back 
ward  or  forward,  presenting,  with  equal  acceptance, 
fresh  subject  matter,  or  that  already  used,  so  long  as 
his  strength  held  out. 


336  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

He  had  not  preached  half  an  hour  before  his 
hearers  were  so  stirred  and  moved,  that  a  majority 
of  them  found  it  utterly  impossible  to  merely  sit 
still  and  listen.  In  different  ways  their  awakening 
was  manifested ;  some  began  to  sing  in  a  low  voice  ; 
others  gently  rocked  their  bodies ;  while  fervent 
ejaculations  of  various  kinds  were  heard  from  all 
parts  of  the  church.  From  this  beginning,  arose 
gradually  a  scene  of  religious  activity,  such  as  Law 
rence  had  never  imagined.  Each  individual  allowed 
his  or  her  fervor  to  express  itself  according  to  the 
method  which  best  pleased  the  worshipper.  Some 
kept  to  their  seats,  and  listened  to  the  words  of  the 
preacher,  interrupting  him  occasionally  by  fervent 
ejaculations  ;  others  sang  and  shouted,  sometimes 
standing  up,  clapping  their  hands  and  stamping  their 
feet  ;  while  a  large  proportion  of  the  able-bodied 
members  left  their  seats,  and  pushed  their  way  for 
ward  to  the  wide,  open  space  which  surrounded  the 
preacher's  desk,  and  prepared  to  engage  in  the  ex 
hilarating  ceremony  of  the  "Jerusalem  Jump." 

Two  concentric  rings  were  formed  around  the 
preacher,  the  inner  one  composed  of  women,  the 
outer  one  of  men,  the  faces  of  those  forming 
the  inner  ring  being  turned  towards  those  in  the 
outer.  As  soon  as  all  were  in  place,  each  brother 
reached  forth  his  hand,  and  took  the  hand  of  the 
sister  opposite  to  him,  and  then  each  couple  began 
to  jump  up  and  down  violently,  shaking  hands  and 
singing  at  the  top  of  their  voices.  After  about  a 
minute  of  this,  the  two  circles  moved,  one,  one 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  337 

way  and  one  another,  so  that  each  brother  found 
himself  opposite  a  different  sister.  Hands, were 
again  immediately  seized,  and  the  jumping,  hand 
shaking,  and  singing  went  on.  Minute  by  minute 
the  excitement  increased  ;  faster  the  worshippers 
jumped,  and  louder  they  sang.  Through  it  all 
Brother  Enoch  Hines  kept  on  with  his  sermon.  It 
was  very  difficult  now  to  make  himself  heard,  and 
the  time  for  explanation  or  elucidation  had  long 
since  passed  ;  all  he  could  do  was  to  shout  forth  cer 
tain  important  and  moving  facts,  and  this  he  did 
over  and  over  again,  holding  his  hand  at  the  side  of 
his  mouth,  as  if  he  were  hailing  a  vessel  in  the  wind. 
Much  of  what  he  said  was  lost  in  the  din  of  the 
jumpers,  but  ever  and  anon  could  be  heard  ringing 
through  the  church  the  announcement :  "  De  wheel 
ob  time  is  a  turnin*  roun' ! " 

In  a  group  by  themselves,  in  an  upper  corner  of 
the  congregation,  were  four  or  five  very  old  women, 
who  were  able  to  manifest  their  pious  enthusiasm  in 
no  other  way  than  by  rocking  their  bodies  back 
wards  and  forwards,  and  singing  with  their  cracked 
voices  a  gruesome  and  monotonous  chant.  This 
rude  song  had  something  of  a  wild  and  uncivilized 
nature,  as  if  it  had  come  down  to  these  old  people 
from  the  savage  rites  of  their  African  ancestors. 
They  did  not  sing  in  unison,  but  each  squeaked  or 
piped  out  her,  "  Yi,  wiho,  yi,  hoo  !  "  according  to  the 
strength  of  her  lungs,  and  the  degree  of  her  exalta 
tion.  Prominent  among  these  was  old  Aunt  Patsy ; 
her  little  black  eyes  sparkling  through  her  great 

22 


338  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

iron-bound  spectacles  ;  her  head  and  body  moving 
in  unison  with  the  wild  air  of  the  unintelligible  chant 
she  sang ;  her  long,  skinny  hands  clapping  up  and 
down  upon  her  knees ;  while  her  feet,  encased  in 
their  great  green  baize  slippers,  unceasingly  beat 
time  upon  the  floor. 

So  many  persons  being  absent  from  their  seats, 
the  group  of  old  women  was  clearly  visible  to  Annie 
and  Lawrence,  and  Aunt  Patsy  also  could  easily  see 
them.  Whenever  her  head,  in  its  ceaseless  moving 
from  side  to  side,  allowed  her  eyes  to  fall  upon  the 
two  white  visitors,  her  ardor  and  fervency  increased, 
and  she  seemed  to  be  expressing  a  pious  gratitude 
that  Miss  Annie  and  he,  whom  she  supposed  to  be 
her  husband,  were  still  together  in  peace  and  safety. 

Annie  was  much  affected  by  all  she  saw  and 
heard.  Her  face  was  slightly  pale,  and  occasionally 
she  was  moved  by  a  little  nervous  tremor.  Mr 
Croft,  too,  was  very  attentive.  His  soul  was  not 
moved  to  enthusiasm,  and  he  did  not  feel,  as  his 
companion  did,  now  and  then,  that  he  would  like  to 
jump  up  and  join  in  the  dancing  and  the  shouting ; 
but  the  scene  made  a  very  strong  impression  upon 
him. 

Around  and  around  went  the  two  rings  of  men 
and  women,  jumping,  singing,  and  hand-shaking. 
Out  from  the  centre  of  them  came  the  stentorian 
shout:  "  De  wheel  ob  time  is  a  turnin'  roun' ! " 
From  all  parts  of  the  church  rose  snatches  of 
hymns,  exultant  shouts,  groans,  and  prayers ;  and, 
in  the  corner,  the  shrill  chants  of  the  old  women 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  339 

were  fitfully  heard  through  the  storm  of  discordant 
worship. 

In  the  midst  of  all  the  wild  din  and  hubbub,  the 
soul  of  Aunt  Patsy  looked  out  from  the  habitation 
where  it  had  dwelt  so  long,  and,  without  giving  the 
slightest  notice  to  any  one,  or  attracting  the  least 
attention  by  its  movements,  it  silently  slipped  away. 

The  old  habitation  of  the  soul  still  sat  in  its  chair, 
but  no  one  noticed  that  it  no  longer  sang,  or  beat 
time  with  its  hands  and  feet. 

Not  long  after  this,  Lawrence  looked  round  at  his 
companion,  and  noticed  that  she  was  slightly  trem 
bling.  "  Don't  you  think  we  have  had  enough  of 
this?  "  he  whispered. 

"  Yes,"  she  answered.  And  they  rose  and  went 
out.  They  thought  they  were  the  first  who  had 
left. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

WHEN  Mr  Croft  and  Miss  Annie  got  into  the 
spring-wagon,  and  the  head  of  the  sorrel  was  turned 
away  from  the  church,  Lawrence  looked  at  his 
watch,  and  remarked  that,  as  it  was  still  quite  early, 
there  might  be  time  for  a  little  drive  before  going 
back  to  the  house  for  dinner.  The  face  of  the 
young  lady  beside  him  was  still  slightly  pale,  and 
the  thought  came  to  him  that  it  would  be  very  well 
for  her  if  her  mind  could  be  diverted  from  the  ab 
normally  inspiriting  scene  she  had  just  witnessed. 

11  Dinner  will  be  late  to-day,"  she  said,  "  for  I 
saw  Letty  doing  her  best  among  the  Jerusalem 
Jumpers." 

"  Very  well,"  said  he,  "  we  will  drive.  And  now, 
where  shall  we  go  ?" 

"  If  we  take  the  cross-road  at  the  store,"  said  Miss 
Annie,  "  and  go  on  for  about  half  a  mile,  we  can 
turn  into  the  woods,  and  then  there  is  a  beautiful 
road  through  the  trees,  which  will  bring  us  out  on 
the  other  side  of  Aunt  Keswick's  house.  Junius 
took  me  that  way  not  long  ago." 

So  they  turned  at  the  store,  much  to  the  disgust 
of  the  plodding  sorrel,  who  thought  he  was  going 
directly  home,  and  they  soon  reached  the  road  that 
led  through  the  woods.  This  was  hard  and  sandy, 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  341 

as  are  many  of  the  roads  through  the  forests  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  and  it  would  have  been  a  very 
good  driving  road,  had  it  not  been  for  the  occasional 
protrusion  of  tree  roots,  which  gave  the  wheels  a  lit 
tle  bump,  and  for  the  branches  which,  now  and  then, 
hung  down  somewhat  too  low  for  the  comfort  of 
a  lady  and  gentleman,  riding  in  a  rather  high  spring- 
wagon  without  a  cover.  But  Lawrence  drove  slowly, 
and  so  the  root  bumps  were  not  noticed  ;  and  when 
the  low-hanging  boughs  were  on  his  side,  he  lifted 
them  so  that  his  companion's  head  could  pass 
under  and,  when  they  happened  to  be  on  her  side, 
Annie  ducked  her  head,  and  her  hat  was  never 
brushed  off.  But,  at  times,  they  drove  quite  a  dis 
tance  without  overhanging  boughs,  and  the  pine 
trees,  surrounded  by  their  smooth  carpet  of  brown 
spines,  gave  forth  a  spicy  fragrance  in  the  warm, 
but  sparkling  air ;  the  oak  trees  stood  up  still  dark 
and  green  ;  while  the  chestnuts  were  all  dressed 
in  rich  yellow,  with  the  chinquepin  bushes  by  the 
roadside  imitating  them  in  color,  as  they  tried  to 
do  in  fruit.  Sometimes  a  spray  of  purple  flowers 
could  be  seen  among  the  trees,  and  great  patches 
of  sunlight  which,  here  and  there,  came  through  the 
thinning  foliage,  fell,  now  upon  the  brilliantly  scarlet 
leaves  of  a  sweet-gum,  and  now  upon  the  polished 
and  brown-red  dress  of  a  neighboring  black-gum. 

The  woods  were  very  quiet.  There  was  no  sound 
of  bird  or  insect,  and  the  occasional  hare,  or  "  Molly 
Cotton-tail,"  as  Annie  delightedly  called  it,  who 
hopped  across  the  road,  made  no  noise  at  all.  A 


342  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

gentle  wind  among  the  tops  of  the  taller  trees  made 
a  sound  as  of  a  distant  sea  ;  but,  besides  this,  little 
was  heard  but  the  low,  crunching  noise  of  the 
wheels,  and  the  voices  of  Lawrence  and  Miss  Annie. 

Reaching  a  place  where  the  road  branched,  Law 
rence  stopped  the  horse,  and  looked  up  each  leafy 
lane.  They  were  completely  deserted.  White 
people  seldom  walked  abroad  at  this  hour  on  Sun 
day,  and  the  negroes  of  the  neighborhood  were  at 
church.  "Is  not  this  a  frightfully  lonely  place?" 
he  said.  "  One  might  imagine  himself  in  a  desert." 

"  I  like  it,"  replied  Annie.  "  It  is  so  different 
from  the  wild,  exciting  tumult  of  that  church.  I 
am  glad  you  took  me  away.  At  first  I  would  not 
have  missed  it  for  the  world,  but  there  seemed  to 
come  into  the  stormy  scene  something  oppressive, 
and  almost  terrifying." 

u  I  am  glad  I  took  you  away,"  said  Lawrence, 
"  but  it  seems  to  me  that  your  impression  was  not 
altogether  natural.  I  thought  that,  amid  all  that 
mad  enthusiasm,  you  were  over-excited,  not  de 
pressed.  A  solemn  solitude  like  this  would,  to  my 
thinking,  be  much  more  likely  to  lower  your  spirits. 
I  don't  like  solitude,  myself,  and  therefore,  I  sup 
pose  it  is  that  I  thought  an  impressible  nature,  like 
yours,  would  find  something  sad  in  the  loneliness  of 
these  silent  woods." 

Annie  turned,  and  fixed  on  him  her  large  blue 
eyes.  "  But  I  am  not  alone,"  she  said. 

As  Lawrence  looked  into  her  eyes  he  saw  that 
they  were  as  clear  as  the  purest  crystal,  and  that  he 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  343 

could  look  through  them  straight  into  her  soul,  and 
there  he  saw  that  this  woman  loved  him.  The 
vision  was  as  sudden  as  if  it  had  been  a  night  scene 
lighted  up  by  a  flash  of  lightning,  but  it  was  as  clear 
and  plain  as  if  it  had  been  that  same  scene  under 
the  noonday  sun. 

There  are  times  in  the  life  of  a  man,  when  the 
goddess  of  Reasonable  Impulse  raises  her  arms 
above  her  head,  and  allows  herself  a  little  yawn. 
Then  she  takes  off  her  crown  and  hangs  it  on  the 
back  of  her  throne  ;  after  which  she  rests  her  sceptre 
on  the  floor,  and,  rising,  stretches  herself  to  her 
full  height,  arid  goes  forth  to  take  a  long,  refreshing 
walk  by  the  waters  of  Unreflection.  Then  her 
minister,  Prudence,  stretches  himself  upon  a  bench, 
and,  with  his  handkerchief  over  his  eyes,  composes 
himself  for  a  nap.  Discretion,  Worldly  Wisdom, 
and  other  trusted  officers  of  her  court,  and  even, 
sometimes,  that  agile  page  called  Memory,  no  sooner 
see  their  royal  mistress  depart  than,  by  various 
doors,  they  leave  the  palace  and  wander  far  away. 
Then,  silently,  with  sparkling  eyes,  and  parted  lips, 
comes  that  fair  being,  Unthinking  Love.  She  puts 
one  foot  upon  the  lower  step  of  the  throne  ;  she 
looks  about  her;  and,  with  a  quick  bound,  she 
seats  herself.  Upon  her  tumbled  curls  she  hastily 
puts  the  crown ;  with  her  small  white  hand  she 
grasps  the  sceptre  ;  and  thenz  rising,  waves  it,  and 
issues  her  commands.  The  crowd  of  emotions 
which  serve  as  her  satellites,  seize  the  great  seal  from 
the  sleeping  Prudence,  and  the  new  Queen  reigns ! 


344  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

All  this  now  happened  to  Lawrence.  Never 
before  had  he  looked  into  the  eyes  of  a  woman 
who  loved  him ;  and,  leaning  over  towards  this 
one,  he  put  his  arm  around  her  and  drew  her 
towards  him.  "  And  never  shall  you  be  alone,"  he 
said. 

She  looked  up  at  him  with  tears  starting  to  her 
eyes,  and  then  she  put  her  head  against  his  breast. 
She  was  too  happy  to  say  anything,  and  she  did 
not  try. 

It  was  about  a  minute  after  this,  that  the  sober 
sorrel,  who  took  no  interest  in  what  had  occurred 
behind  him,  and  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  his 
stable  at  home,  started  in  an  uncertain  and  hesi 
tating  way ;  and,  rinding  that  he  was  not  checked, 
began  to  move  onward.  Lawrence  looked  up  from 
the  little  head  upon  his  breast,  and  called  out, 
"  Whoa ! "  To  this,  however,  the  sorrel  paid  no 
attention.  Lawrence  then  put  forth  his  right  hand 
to  grasp  the  reins,  but  having  lately  forgotten  all 
about  them,  they  had  fallen  out  of  the  spring-wagon, 
and  were  now  dragging  upon  the  ground.  It  was 
impossible  for  him  to  reach  them,  and  so,  seizing  the 
whip,  he  endeavored  with  its  aid  to  hook  them  up. 
Failing  in  this,  he  was  about  to  jump  out  and  run 
to  the  horse's  head  ;  but,  perceiving  his  intention, 
Annie  seized  his  arm.  "  Don't  you  do  it ! "  she 
exclaimed.  "  You'll  ruin  your  ankle !  " 

Lawrence  could  not  but  admit  to  himself  that  he 
was  not  in  condition  to  execute  any  feats  of  agility, 
and  he  also  felt  that  Annie  had  a  very  charming 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  345 

way  of  holding  fast  to  his  arm,  as  if  she  had  a 
right  to  keep  him  out  of  danger.  And  now  the 
sorrel  broke  into  the  jog-trot  which  was  his  usual 
pace.  "  It  is  very  provoking,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I 
don't  think  I  ever  allowed  myself  to  drop  the  reins 
before." 

"  It  doesn't  make  the  slightest  difference,"  said 
Annie,  comfortingly.  "  This  old  horse  knows  the 
road  perfectly  well,  and  he  doesn't  need  a  bit  of 
driving.  He  will  take  us  home  just  as  safely  as  if 
you  held  the  reins,  and  now  don't  you  try  to  get 
them,  for  you  will  only  hurt  yourself." 

"Very  well,"  said  Lawrence,  putting  his  arm 
around  her  again,  "  I  am  resigned.  But  I  think 
you  are  very  brave  to  sit  so  quiet  and  composed, 
under  the  circumstances." 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  smile.  "  Such  a  little 
circumstance  don't  count,  just  now,"  she  said.  "  You 
must  stop  that,"  she  added,  presently,  "  when  we 
get  to  the  edge  of  the  woods." 

Before  long,  they  came  out  into  the  open  country 
and  found  themselves  in  a  lane  which  led  by  a 
wide  circuit  to  the  road  passing  Mrs  Keswick's 
house.  The  old  sorrel  certainly  behaved  admirably; 
he  held  back  when  he  descended  a  declivity ;  he 
walked  over  the  rough  places ;  and  he  trotted  stead 
ily  where  the  road  was  smooth. 

"  It  seems  like  our  Fate,"  said  Annie,  who  now 
sat  up  without  an  arm  around  her,  the  protecting 
woods  having  been  left  behind,  "he  just  takes  us 
along  without  our  having  anything  to  do  with  it." 


346  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

u  He  is  not  much  of  a  horse,"  said  Lawrence, 
clasping,  in  an  unobservable  way,  the  little  hand 
which  lay  by  his  side,  "  but  the  Fate  is  charming." 

Fortunately  there  was  no  one  upon  the  road  to 
notice  the  reinless  plight  in  which  these  two  young 
people  found  themselves,  and  they  were  quite  as  well 
satisfied  as  if  they  had  been  doing  their  own  driving. 
After  a  little  period  of  thought,  Annie  turned  an 
earnest  face  to  Lawrence,  and  she  said  :  "  Do  you 
know  that  I  never  believed  that  you  were  really  in 
love  with  Roberta  March." 

Lawrence  squeezed  her  hand,  but  did  not  reply. 
He  knew  very  well  that  he  had  loved  Roberta 
March,  and  he  was  not  going  to  lie  about  it. 

"  I  thought  so,"  she  continued,  "  because  I  did 
not  believe  that  any  one,  who  was  truly  in  love, 
would  want  to  send  other  people  about,  to  propose 
for  him,  as  you  did." 

"  That  is  not  exactly  the  state  of  the  case,"  he 
said,  "  but  we  must  not  talk  of  those  things  now. 
That  is  all  passed  and  gone." 

"  But  if  there  ever  was  any  love,"  she  persisted, 
"  are  you  sure  that  it  is  all  gone  ?  " 

"  Gone,"  he  answered,  earnestly,  "  as  utterly  and 
completely  as  the  days  of  last  summer." 

And  now  the  sorrel,  of  his  own  accord,  stopped 
at  Mrs  Keswick's  outer  gate;  and  Lawrence,  getting 
down,  took  up  the  reins,  opened  the  gate,  and  drove 
to  the  house  in  quite  a  proper  way. 

When  Mr  Croft  helped  Annie  to  descend  from 
the  spring-wagon,  he  did  not  squeeze  her  hand,  nor 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  347 

exchange  with  her  any  tender  glances,  for  old  Mrs 
Keswick  was  standing  at  the  top  of  the  steps. 
"  Have  you  seen  Letty  ?"  she  asked. 

"Letty?"  said  Miss  Annie.  "  Oh,  yes,"  she  added, 
as  if  she  suddenly  remembered  that  such  a  person 
existed,  "  Letty  was  at  church,  and  she  was  very 
active." 

"  Well,"  said  the  old  lady,  "  she  must  have  taken 
more  interest  in  the  exercises  than  you  did,  for  it  is 
long  past  the  time  when  I  told  her  she  must  be 
home." 

"  I  do  not  believe,  madam,"  said  Lawrence,  "that 
any  one  could  have  taken  more  interest  in  the  exer 
cises  of  this  morning,  than  we  have." 

At  this,  Annie  could  not  help  giving  him  a  little 
look  which  would  have  provoked  reflection  in  the 
mind  of  the  old  lady,  had  she  not  been  very  ear 
nestly  engaged  in  gazing  out  into  the  road,  in  the 
hope  of  seeing  Letty. 

When  Lawrence  had  gone  into  the  office,  and  had 
closed  the  door  behind  him,  he  stood  in  a  medita 
tive  mood  before  the  empty  fireplace.  He  was 
making  inquiries  of  himself  in  regard  to  what  he 
had  just  done.  He  was  not  accusing  himself,  nor 
indulging  in  regrets;  he  was  simply  investigating 
the  matter.  Here  he  stood,  a  man  accepted  by  two 
women.  If  he  had  ever  heard  of  any  other  man 
in  a  like  condition,  he  would  have  called  that  man 
a  scoundrel,  and  yet  he  did  not  deem  himself  a 
scoundrel. 

The  facts  in  the  case  were  easy  enough  to  under- 


348  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

stand.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  had  looked 
into  the  eyes  of  a  woman  who  loved  him,  and  he 
had  discovered  to  his  utter  surprise  that  he  loved 
her.  There  had  been  no  plan ;  no  prudent  outlook 
into  her  nature  and  feelings  ;  no  cautious  insight  into 
his  own.  He  had  taken  part  in  a  most  unpremedi 
tated  act  of  pure  and  simple  love;  and  that  it  was 
real  and  pure  love  on  each  side,  he  no  more  doubted 
than  he  doubted  that  he  lived.  And  yet,  had  he 
been  an  impostor  when,  on  that  hill  over  there,  he 
told  Roberta  March  he  loved  her?  No,  he  had  been 
honest,  he  had  loved  her ;  and,  since  the  time  that 
he  had  been  roused  to  action  by  the  discovery  of 
Junius  Keswick's  intentions  to  renew  his  suit,  it  had 
been  a  love  full  of  a  rare  and  alluring  beauty.  But  its 
charm,  its  fascination,  its  very  existence,  had  disap 
peared  in  the  first  flash  of  his  knowledge  that  Annie 
Peyton  loved  him.  Had  his  love  for  Roberta  been 
a  perfect  one,  had  he  been  sure  that  she  returned  it, 
then  it  could  not  have  been  overthrown ;  but  it  had 
gone,  and  a  love,  complete  and  perfect,  stood  in  its 
place.  He  had  seen  that  he  was  loved,  and  he 
loved.  That  was  all,  but  it  would  stand  forever. 

This  was  the  state  of  the  case,  and  now  Lawrence 
set  himself  to  discover  if,  in  all  ways,  he  had  acted 
truly  and  honestly.  He  had  been  accepted  by  Miss 
March,  but  what  sort  of  acceptance  was  it  ?  Should 
he,  as  a  man  true  to  himself,  accept  such  an  accept 
ance?  What  was  he  to  think  of  a  woman  who, 
very  angry  as  he  had  been  informed,  had  sent  him  a 
message,  which  meant  everything  in  the  world  to 


The  Late  Mrs  NidL  349 

him,  if  it  meant  anything,  and  had  then  dashed 
away  without  allowing  him  a  chance  to  speak  to  her, 
or  even  giving  him  a  nod  of  farewell?  The  last 
thing  she  had  really  said  to  him  in  this  connection 
were  those  cruel  words  on  Pine  Top  Hill,  with  which 
she  had  asked  him  to  choose  a  spot  in  which  to 
be  rejected.  Could  he  consider  himself  engaged  ? 
Would  a  woman  who  cared  for  him  act  towards  him 
in  such  a  manner  ?  After  all,  was  that  acceptance 
anything  more  than  the  result  of  pique  ?  And 
could  he  not,  quite  as  justly,  accept  the  rejection 
which  she  had  professed  herself  anxious  to  give  him. 

A  short  time  before,  Lawrence  had  done  his  best 
to  explain  to  his  advantage  these  peculiarities  of  his 
status  in  regard  to  Miss  March.  He  had  said  to 
himself  that  she  had  threatened  to  reject  him  be 
cause  she  wished  to  punish  him,  and  he  had  intended 
to  implore  her  pardon,  and  expected  to  receive  it. 
Over  and  over  again,  had  he  argued  with  himself  in 
this  strain,  and  yet,  in  spite  of  it  all,  he  had  not 
been  able  to  bring  himself  into  a  state  of  mind  in 
which  he  could  sit  down  and  write  to  her  a  letter, 
which,  in  his  estimation,  would  be  certain  to  seal  and 
complete  the  engagement.  "  How  very  glad  I  am," 
he  now  said  to  himself,  "  that  I  never  wrote  that 
letter ! "  And  this  was  the  only  decision  at  which 
he  had  arrived,  when  he  heard  Mrs  Keswick  calling 
to  him  from  the  yard. 

He  immediately  went  to  the  door,  when  the  old 
lady  informed  him,  that  as  Letty  had  not  come  back, 
and  did  not  appear  to  be  intending  to  come  back,  and 


350  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

that  as  none  of  the  other  servants  on  the  place  had 
made  their  appearance,  he  might  as  well  come  into 
the  house,  and  try  to  satisfy  his  hunger  on  what  cold 
food  she  and  Mrs  Null  had  managed  to  collect. 

The  most  biting  and  spicy  condiments  of  the  little 
meal,  to  which  the  three  sat  down,  were  supplied 
by  Mrs  Keswick,  who  reviled  without  stint  those 
utterly  thoughtless  and  heedless  colored  people, 
who,  once  in  the  midst  of  their  crazy  religious  ex 
ercises,  totally  forgot  that  they  owed  any  duty 
whatever  to  those  who  employed  them.  Law 
rence  and  Annie  did  not  say  much,  but  there  was 
something  peculiarly  piquant  in  the  way  in  which 
Annie  brought  and  poured  out  the  tea  she  had 
made,  and  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  old 
lady's  remarks,  was  the  only  warm  part  of  the 
repast ;  and  there  was  an  element  of  buoyancy  in 
the  manner  of  Mr  Croft,  as  he  took  his  cup  to  drink 
the  tea.  Although  he  said  little  at  this  meal,  he 
thought  a  great  deal,  listening  not  at  all  to  Mrs 
Keswick's  tirades.  "  What  a  charmingly  incon 
siderate  affair  this  has  been ! "  he  said  to  himself. 
"  Nothing  planned,  nothing  provided  for,  or  against ; 
all  spontaneous,  and  from  our  very  hearts.  I  never 
thought  to  tell  her  that  she  must  say  nothing  to 
her  aunt,  until  we  had  agreed  how  everything 
should  be  explained,  and  I  don't  believe  the  idea 
that  it  is  necessary  to  say  anything  to  anybody, 
has  entered  her  mind.  But  I  must  keep  my  eyes 
away  from  her  if  I  don't  want  to  bring  on  a  prema 
ture  explosion." 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  351 

Whatever  might  be  the  result  of  the  reasoning 
which  this  young  man  had  to  do  with  himself,  it 
was  quite  plain  that  he  was  abundantly  satisfied 
with  things  as  they  were. 

It  was  beginning  to  be  dark,  when  Letty  and 
Uncle  Isham  returned  and  explained  why  they  had 
been  so  late  in  returning. 

Old  Aunt  Patsy  had  died  in  church. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

"  LAWRENCE,"  said  Annie,  on  the  forenoon  of 
the  next  day,  as  they  were  sitting  together  in 
the  parlor  with  the  house  to  themselves,  Mrs  Kes- 
wick  having  gone  to  Aunt  Patsy's  cabin  to  super 
vise  proceedings  there,  "  Lawrence,  don't  you  feel 
glad  that  we  did  not  have  a  chance  to  speak  to  dear 
old  Aunt  Patsy  about  those  little  shoes?  Perhaps 
she  had  forgotten  that  she  had  stolen  them,  and  so 
went  to  heaven  without  that  sin  on  her  soul." 

"  That  is  a  very  comfortable  way  of  looking  at 
it,"  said  Lawrence,  "  but  wouldn't  it  be  better  to 
assume  that  she  did  not  steal  them  ?  " 

"I  am  very  sorry,"  said  Annie,  "but  that  is 
not  easy  to  do.  But  don't  let  us  think  anything 
more  about  that.  And,  don't  you  feel  very  glad 
that  the  poor  old  creature,  who  looked  so  happy 
as  she  sat  singing  and  clapping  her  hands  on  her 
knees,  didn't  die  until  after  we  had  left  the  church? 
If  it  had  happened  while  we  were  there,  I  don't 
believe — " 

"  Don't  believe  what  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"  Well,  that  you  now  would  be  sitting  with  your 
arm  on  the  back  of  my  chair." 

Lawrence  was  quite    sure,  from  what    had  been 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  353 

told  him,  that  Aunt  Patsy's  demise  had  taken  place 
before  they  left  the  church,  but  he  did  not  say  so 
to  Annie.  He  merely  took  his  arm  from  the  back 
of  her  chair,  and  placed  it  around  her. 

"  And  do  you  know/'  said  she,  u  that  Letty  told 
me  something,  this  morning,  that  is  so  funny  and  yet 
in  a  certain  way  so  pathetic,  that  it  made  me  laugh 
and  cry  both.  She  said  that  Aunt  Patsy  always 
thought  that  you  were  Mr  Null." 

At  this,  Lawrence  burst  out  laughing,  but  Annie 
checked  him  and  went  on;  "And  she  told  Letty  in 
church,  when  she  saw  us  two  come  in,  that  she 
believed  she  could  die  happy  now,  since  she  had 
seen  Miss  Annie  married  to  such  a  peart  gentleman, 
and  that  it  looked  as  if  old  miss  had  got  over  her 
grudge  against  him." 

"And  didn't  Letty  undeceive  her?"  asked  Law 
rence. 

"  No,  she  said  it  would  be  a  pity  to  upset  the 
mind  of  such  an  old  woman,  and  she  didn't  do  it." 

"  Then  the  good  Aunt  Patsy  died,"  said  Law 
rence,  "  thinking  I  was  that  wretched  tramp  of  a 
bone-dust  pedler,  which  the  fancy  of  your  aunt  has 
conjured  up.  That  explains  the  interest  the  vene 
rable  colored  woman  took  in  me.  It  is  now  quite 
easy  to  understand ;  for,  if  your  aunt  abused  your 
mythical  husband  to  everybody,  as  she  did  to  me,  I 
don't  wonder  Aunt  Patsy  thought  I  was  in  danger." 

"  Poor  old  woman,"  said  Annie,  looking  down  at 
the  floor,  u  I  am  so  glad  that  we  helped  her  to  die 
happy." 

23 


354  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  As  she  was  obliged  to  anticipate  the  truth," 
said  Lawrence,  "  in  order  to  derive  any  comfort 
from  it,  I  am  glad  she  did  it.  But  although  I  am 
delighted,  more  than  my  words  can  tell  you,  to  take 
the  place  of  your  Mr  Null,  you  must  not  expect  me 
to  have  any  of  his  attributes." 

"Now  just  listen  to  me,  sir,"  said  Annie.  "I 
don't  want  you  to  say  one  word  against  Mr  Null. 
If  it  had  not  been  for  that  good  Freddy,  things 
would  have  been  very  different  from  what  they  are 
now.  If  you  care  for  me  at  all,  you  owe  me  en 
tirely  to  Freddy  Null." 

"  Entirely  ?  "  asked  Lawrence. 

"  Of  course  I  mean  in  regard  to  opportunities  of 
finding  out  things  and  saying  them.  If  Aunt  Kcs- 
wick  had  supposed  I  was  only  Annie  Peyton,  she 
would  not  have  allowed  Mr  Croft  to  interfere  with 
her  plans  for  Junius  and  me.  I  expected  Mr  Null 
to  be  of  service  to  me,  but  no  one  could  have 
imagined  that  he  would  have  brought  about  any 
thing  like  this." 

"Blessed  be  Null!"  exclaimed  Lawrence. 

Annie  asked  him  to  please  to  be  more  careful,  for 
how  did  he  know  that  one  of  the  servants  might  not 
be  sweeping  the  front  porch,  and  of  course,  they 
would  look  in  at  the  windows. 

"  But,  my  dear  child,"  said  Lawrence,  pushing 
back  his  chair  to  a  prudent  distance,  "  we  must  seri 
ously  consider  this  Null  business.  We  shall  have 
to  inform  your  aunt  of  the  present  state  of  affairs, 
and  before  we  do  that,  we  must  explain  what  sort  of 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  355 

person  Frederick  Null,  Esquire,  really  was — I  am  not 
willing  to  admit  that  he  exists,  even  as  a  myth." 

"  Oh  dear  !  oh  dear  !  "  exclaimed  Annie.  "  We 
shall  have  a  dreadful  time  !  When  Aunt  Keswick 
knows  that  there  never  was  any  Mr  Null,  and  then 
hears  that  you  and  I  are  engaged,  it  will  throw  her 
into  the  most  dreadful  state  of  mind  that  she  has 
ever  been  in,  in  her  life ;  and  father  has  told  me  of 
some  of  the  awful  family  earthquakes  that  Aunt 
Keswick  has  brought  about,  when  things  went 
wrong  with  her." 

"  We  must  be  very  cautious,"  said  Lawrence, 
"  and  neither  of  us  must  say  a  word,  or  do  anything 
that  may  arouse  her  suspicion?,  until  we  have  settled 
upon  the  best  possible  method  of  making  the  facts 
known  to  her.  The  case  is  indeed  a  complicated  one." 

"  And  what  makes  it  more  so,"  said  Annie,  "  is 
Aunt  Keswick's  belief  that  you  are  in  love  with 
Miss  March,  and  that  you  want  to  get  a  chance  to 
propose  to  her.  She  does  think  that,  doesn't  she  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  must  admit  that  she 
does." 

"  And  she  must  be  made  to  understand  that  that 
is  entirely  at  an  end,"  continued  Annie.  "  All  this 
will  be  a  very  difficult  task,  Lawrence,  and  I  don't 
see  how  it  is  to  be  done." 

"  But  we  shall  do  it,"  he  answered,  "and  we  must 
not  forget  to  be  very  prudent,  until  it  is  fully  set 
tled  how  we  shall  do  it." 

When  Lawrence  retired  to  his  room,  and  sat 
down  to  hold  that  peculiar  court  in  which  he  was 


356  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

judge,  jury,  lawyers,  and  witnesses,  as  well  as  the 
prisoner  at  the  bar,  he  had  to  do  with  a  case,  a  great 
deal  more  complicated  and  difficult  than  that  which 
perplexed  the  mind  of  Miss  Annie  Peyton.  He 
began  by  the  very  unjudicial  act  of  pledging  him 
self,  to  himself,  that  nothing  should  interfere  with 
this  new,  this  true  love.  In  spite  of  all  that  might 
be  said,  done,  or  thought,  Annie  Peyton  should  be 
his  wife.  There  was  no  indecision,  whatever,  in  re 
gard  to  the  new  love ;  the  only  question  was : 
"  What  is  to  be  done  about  the  old  one  ?  " 

Lawrence  could  not  admit,  for  a  moment,  that  he 
could  have  spoken  to  Roberta  March  as  he  had 
spoken,  if  he  had  not  loved  her ;  but  he  could  now 
perceive  that  that  love  had  been  in  no  small  degree 
impaired  and  weakened  by  the  manner  of  its  accept 
ance.  The  action  of  Miss  March  on  her  last  day 
here  had  much  more  chilled  his  ardor  than  her 
words  on  Pine  Top  Hill.  He  had  not,  before,  ex 
amined  thoroughly  into  the  condition  of  that  ardor 
after  the  departure  of  the  lady,  but  it  was  plain 
enough  now. 

There  was,  therefore,  no  doubt  whatever  in  re 
gard  to  his  love  for  Miss  March  ;  he  was  quite 
ready  and  able  to  lay  that  aside.  But  what  about 
her  acceptance  of  it  ?  How  could  he  lay  that 
aside  ? 

This  was  the  real  case  before  the  court.  The  wit 
nesses  could  give  no  available  testimony,  the  law 
yers  argued  feebly,  the  jury  disagreed,  and  Law 
rence,  in  his  capacity  of  judge,  dismissed  the  case. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  357 

In  his  efforts  to  conduct  his  mind  through  the 
channels  of  law  and  equity,  Lawrence  had  not  satis 
fied  himself,  and  his  thoughts  began  to  be  moved 
by  what  might  be  termed  his  military  impulses. 
"  I  made  a  charge  into  the  camp,"  he  said  with  a 
little  downward  drawing  of  the  corners  of  his 
mouth,  "  and  I  did  not  capture  the  commander-in- 
chief.  And  now  I  intend  to  charge  out  again." 

He  sat  down  to  his  table,  and  wrote  the  following 
note  : 

"  MY  DEAR  Miss  MARCH  : 

"  I  have  been  waiting  for  a  good  many  days,  hoping  to  receive, 
either  from  you  or  Mr  Keswick,  an  explanation  of  the  message  you 
sent  to  me  by  him.  I  now  believe  that  it  will  be  impossible  to  give  a 
satisfactory  explanation  of  that  message.  I  therefore  recur  to  our  last 
private  interview,  and  wish  to  say  to  you  that  I  am  ready,  at  any  time, 
to  meet  you  under  either  a  sycamore  or  a  cherry  tree." 

And  then  he  signed  it,  and  addressed  it  to  Miss 
March  at  Midbranch.  This  being  done,  he  put  on 
his  hat,  and  stepped  out  to  see  if  a  messenger  could 
be  found  to  carry  the  letter  to  its  destination,  for 
he  did  not  wish  to  wait  for  the  semi-weekly  mail. 
Near  the  house  he  met  Annie. 

"  What  have  you  been  doing  all  this  time  ?  "  she 
asked. 

"  I  have  been  writing  a  letter,"  he  said,  "  and  am 
now  looking  for  some  colored  boy  who  will  carry  it 
for  me." 

"  Who  is  it  to  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Miss  March,"  was  his  answer. 

"  Let  me  see  it,"  said  Annie. 


358  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

At  this,  Lawrence  looked  at  her  with  wide-open 
eyes,  and  then  he  laughed.  Never,  since  he  had 
been  a  child,  had  there  been  any  one  who  would 
have  thought  of  such  a  thing  as  asking  to  see  a 
private  letter  which  he  had  written  to  some  one 
else ;  and  that  this  young  girl  should  stand  up 
before  him  with  her  straightforward  expectant  gaze 
and  make  such  a  request  of  him,  in  the  first  in 
stance,  amused  him. 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say,"  she  added,  "  that  you 
would  write  anything  to  Miss  March  which  you 
would  not  let  me  see." 

"  This  letter,"  said  Lawrence,  "  was  written  for 
Miss  March,  and  no  one  else.  It  is  simply  the  wind 
ing  up  of  that  old  affair." 

"  Give  it  to  me,"  said  Annie,  "  and  let  me  see 
how  you  wound  it  up." 

Lawrence  smiled,  looked  at  her  in  silence  for  a 
moment,  and  then  handed  her  the  letter. 

"  I  don't  want  you  to  think,"  she  said,  as  she 
took  it,  "  that  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  show  me  all 
the  letters  you  write.  But  when  you  write  one  to  a 
lady  like  Miss  March,  I  want  to  know  what  you  say 
to  her."  And  then  she  read  the  letter.  When  she 
had  finished,  she  turned  to  Lawrence,  and  with  her 
countenance  full  of  amazement,  exclaimed :  "  I 
haven't  the  least  idea  in  the  world  what  all  this 
means !  What  message  did  she  send  you  ?  And 
why  should  you  meet  her  under  a  tree  ?  " 

These  questions  went  so  straight  to  the  core  of 
the  affair,  and  were  so  peculiarly  difficult  to  answer. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  359 

that  Lawrence,  for  the  moment,  found  himself  in 
the  very  unusual  position  of  not  knowing  what  to 
say,  but  he  presently  remarked  :  "  Do  you  think  it 
is  of  any  advantage  to  either  of  us  to  talk  over  this 
affair,  which  is  now  past  and  gone  ?  " 

"  I  don't  want  to  talk  over  any  of  it,"  said 
Annie,  very  promptly,  "  except  the  part  of  it 
which  is  referred  to  in  this  letter;  but  I  want  to 
know  about  that." 

"  That  covers  the  most  important  part  of  it,"  said 
Lawrence. 

"  Very  good,"  she  answered,  "  and  so  you  can  tell 
it  to  me.  And  now,  that  I  think  of  it,  you  can  tell 
me,  at  the  same  time,  why  you  wanted  to  find  my 
cousin  Junius.  You  refused  once  to  tell  me  that, 
you  know." 

"  I  remember,"  said  Lawrence.  "  And  if  you 
have  the  least  feeling  about  it  I  will  relate  the  whole 
affair,  from  beginning  to  end." 

"  That,  perhaps,  will  be  the  best  thing  to  do,  after 
all,"  said  Annie.  "  And  suppose  we  take  a  walk 
over  the  fields,  and  then  you  can  tell  it  without  be 
ing  interrupted." 

But  Lawrence  did  not  feel  that  his  ankle  would 
allow  him  to  accept  this  invitation,  for  it  had  hurt 
him  a  good  deal  since  his  walk  to  Aunt  Patsy's 
cabin.  He  said  so  to  Annie,  and  excited  in  her  the 
deepest  feelings  of  commiseration. 

"  You  must  take  no  more  walks  of  any  length," 
she  exclaimed,  "  until  you  are  quite,  quite  well !  It 
was  my  fault  that  you  took  that  tramp  to  Aunt 


360  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Patsy's.  I  ought  to  have  known  better.  But  then," 
she  said,  looking  up  at  him,  "you  were  not  under 
my  charge.  I  shall  take  very  good  care  of  you 
now." 

"  For  my  part,''  he  said,  "  I  am  glad  I  have  this 
little  relapse,  for  now  I  can  stay  here  longer." 

"  I  am  very,  very  sorry  for  the  relapse,"  said  she, 
"  but  awfully  glad  for  the  stay.  And  you  mustn't 
stand  another  minute.  Let  us  go  and  sit  in  the 
arbor.  The  sun  is  shining  straight  into  it,  and  that 
will  make  it  all  the  more  comfortable,  while  you  are 
telling  me  about  those  things." 

They  sat  down  in  the  arbor,  and  Lawrence  told 
Annie  the  whole  history  of  his  affair  with  Miss 
March,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  ;  that  is  if  the 
end  had  been  reached  ;  although  he  intimated  to 
her  no  doubt  upon  this  point.  This  avowal  he  had 
never  expected  to  make.  In  fact  he  had  never 
contemplated  its  possibility.  But  now  he  felt  a 
certain  satisfaction  in  telling  it.  Every  item,  as  it 
was  related,  seemed  thrown  aside  forever.  "  And 
now  then,  my  dear  Annie,"  he  said,  when  he  had 
finished,  "  what  do  you  think  of  all  that  ?" 

"  Well,"  she  said,  "  in  the  first  place,  I  am  still 
more  of  the  opinion  than  I  was  before,  that  you 
never  were  really  in  love  with  her.  You  did  entirely 
too  much  planning,  and  investigating,  and  calcula 
ting;  and  when,  at  last,  you  did  come  to  the  conclu 
sion  to  propose  to  her,  you  did  not  do  it  so  much  of 
your  own  accord,  as  because  you  found  that  another 
man  would  be  likely  to  get  her,  if  you  did  not  make 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  361 

a  pretty  quick  move  yourself.  And  as  to  that 
acceptance,  I  don't  think  anything  of  it  at  all.  I 
believe  she  was  very  angry  at  Junius  because  he 
consented  to  bring  your  messages,  when  he  ought  to 
have  been  his  own  messenger,  and  that  she  gave 
him  that  answer  just  to  rack  his  soul  with  agony. 
I  don't  believe  she  ever  dreamed  that  he  would  take 
it  to  you.  And,  to  tell  the  simple  truth,  I  believe, 
from  what  I  saw  of  her  that  morning,  that  she  was 
thinking  very  little  of  you,  and  a  great  deal  of  him. 
To  be  sure,  she  was  fiery  angry  with  him,  but  it  is 
better  to  be  that  way  with  a  lover,  than  to  pay  no 
attention  to  him  at  all." 

This  was  a  view  of  the  case  which  had  never 
struck  Lawrence  before,  and  although  it  was  not 
very  flattering  to  him,  it  was  very  comforting.  He 
felt  that  it  was  extremely  likely  that  this  young 
woman  had  been  able  to  truthfully  divine,  in  a  case 
in  which  he  had  failed,  the  motives  of  another  young 
woman.  Here  was  a  further  reason  for  congratula 
ting  himself  that  he  had  not  written  to  Miss 
March. 

"  And  as  to  the  last  part  of  the  letter,"  said 
Annie,  "  you  are  not  going  under  any  cherry  tree, 
or  sycamore  either,  to  be  refused  by  her.  What 
she  said  to  you  was  quite  enough  for  a  final  answer, 
without  any  signing  or  sealing  under  trees,  or  any 
where  else.  I  think  the  best  thing  that  can  be  done 
with  this  precious  epistle  is  to  tear  it  up." 

Lawrence  was  amused  by  the  piquant  earnestness 
of  this  decision.  "  But  what  am  I  to  do,"  he  asked, 


362  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  I  can't  let  the  matter  rest  in  this  unfinished  and 
unsatisfactory  condition." 

"  You  might  write  to  her,"  said  Annie,  "  and  tell 
her  that  you  have  accepted  what  she  said  to  you  on 
Pine  Top  Hill  as  a  conclusive  answer,  and  that  you 
now  take  back  everything  you  ever  said  on  the  sub 
ject  you  talked  of  that  day.  And  do  you  think  it 
would  be  well  to  put  in  anything  about  your  being 
otherwise  engaged  ?  " 

At  this  Lawrence  laughed.  "  I  think  that  expres 
sion  would  hardly  answer,"  he  said,  "  but  I  will 
write  another  note,  and  we  shall  see  how  you  like  it." 

"  That  will  be  very  well,"  said  the  happy  Annie, 
"  and  if  I  were  you  I'd  make  it  as  gentle  as  I  could. 
It's  of  no  use  to  hurt  her  feelings." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  want  to  do  that,"  said  Lawrence,  "  and 
now  that  we  have  the  opportunity,  let  us  consider 
the  question  of  informing  your  aunt  of  our  engage 
ment." 

"  Oh  dear,  dear,  dear !  "  said  Annie,  "  that  is  a 
great  deal  worse  than  informing  Miss  March  that 
you  don't  want  to  be  engaged  to  her." 

"That  is  true,"  said  Lawrence.  "  It  is  not  by  any 
means  an  easy  piece  of  business.  But  we  might  as 
well  look  it  square  in  the  face,  and  determine  what 
is  to  be  done  about  it." 

"  It  is  simple  enough,  just  as  we  look  at  it,"  said 
Annie.  "  All  we  have  to  do,  is  to  say  that,  knowing 
that  Aunt  Keswick  had  written  to  my  father  that 
she  was  determined  to  make  a  match  between  cousin 
Junius  and  me,  I  was  afraid  to  come  down  here 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  363 

without  putting  up  some  insurmountable  obstacle 
between  me  and  a  man  that  I  had  not  seen  since  I 
was  a  little  girl.  Of  course  I  would  say,  very  decid 
edly,  that  I  wouldn't  have  married  him  if  I  hadn't 
wanted  to ;  but  then,  considering  Aunt  Keswick's 
very  open  way  of  carrying  out  her  plans,  it  would 
have  been  very  unpleasant,  and  indeed  impossible 
for  me  to  be  in  the  house  with  him  unless  she  saw 
that  there  was  no  hope  of  a  marriage  between  us  ; 
and  for  this  reason  I  took  the  name  of  Mrs  Null,  or 
Mrs  Nothing;  and  came  down  here,  secure  under  the 
protection  of  a  husband  who  never  existed.  And 
then,  we  could  say  that  you  and  I  were  a  good  deal 
together,  and  that,  although  you  had  supposed, 
when  you  came  here,  that  you  were  in  love  with 
Miss  March,  you  had  discovered  that  this  was  a 
mistake,  and  that  afterwards  we  fell  in  love  with 
each  other,  and  are  now  engaged.  That  would  be  a 
straightforward  statement  of  everything,  just  as  it 
happened ;  but  the  great  trouble  is :  How  are  we 
going  to  tell  it  to  Aunt  Keswick  ?" 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Lawrence.  "  How  are  we 
going  to  tell  it  ?  " 

"  It  need  not  be  told  !  "  thundered  a  strong  voice 
close  to  their  ears.  And  then  there  was  a  noise  of 
breaking  lattice-work  and  cracking  vines,  and  through 
the  back  part  of  the  arbor  came  an  old  woman  wear 
ing  a  purple  sun-bonnet,  and  beating  down  all  ob 
stacles  before  her  with  a  great  purple  umbrella. 
"You  needn't  tell  it!"  cried  Mrs  Keswick,  standing 
in  the  middle  of  the  arbor,  her  eyes  glistening,  her 


364  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

form  trembling,  and  her  umbrella  quivering  in  the 
air.  "You  needn't  tell  it  !  It's  told  !  " 

Graphic  and  vivid  descriptions  have  been  written 
of  those  furious  storms  of  devastating  wind  and  del 
uging  rain,  which  suddenly  sweep  away  the  beauty 
of  some  fair  tropical  scene  ;  and  we  have  read,  too,  of 
dreadful  cyclones  and  tornadoes,  which  rush,  in  mad 
rage,  over  land  and  sea,  burying  great  ships  in  a  vast 
tumult  of  frenzied  waves,  or  crushing  to  the  earth 
forests,  buildings,  everything  that  may  lie  in  their 
awful  paths  ;  but  no  description  could  be  written 
which  could  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  storm 
which  now  burst  upon  Lawrence  and  Annie.  The 
old  lady  had  seen  these  two  standing  together  in  the 
yard,  conversing  most  earnestly.  She  had  then  seen 
Annie  read  a  letter  that  Lawrence  gave  her;  and 
then  she  had  perceived  the  two,  in  close  converse, 
enter  the  arbor,  and  sit  down  together  without  the 
slightest  regard  for  the  rights  of  Mr  Null. 

Mrs  Keswick  looked  upon  all  this  as  somewhat 
more  out-of-the-way  than  the  usual  proceedings  of 
these  young  people,  and  there  came  into  her  mind 
a  curiosity  to  know  what  they  were  saying  to  each 
other.  So  she  immediately  repaired  to  the  large 
garden,  and  quietly  made  her  way  to  the  back  of  the 
arbor,  in  which  advantageous  position  she  heard  the 
whole  of  Lawrence's  story  of  his  love-affair  with  Miss 
March  ;  Annie's  remarks  upon  the  same,  and  the 
facts  of  this  young  lady's  proposed  confession  in 
regard  to  her  marriage  with  Mr  Null,  and  her  en 
gagement  to  Mr  Croft. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  365 

Then  she  burst  in  upon  them  ;  the  tornado  and 
the  cyclone  raged  ;  the  thunder  rolled  and  crashed  ; 
and  the  white  lightning  of  her  wrath  flashed  upon 
the  two,  as  if  it  would  scathe  and  annihilate  them,  as 
they  stood  before  her.  Neither  of  them  had  ever 
known  or  imagined  anything  like  this.  It  had  been 
long  since  Mrs  Keswick  had  had  an  opportunity  of 
exercising  that  power  of  vituperative  torment,  which 
had  driven  a  husband  to  the  refuge  of  a  reverted 
pistol ;  which  had  banished,  for  life,  relatives  and 
friends  ;  and  which,  in  the  shape  of  a  promissory 
curse,  had  held  apart  those  who  would  have  been 
husband  and  wife ;  and  now,  like  the  long  stored 
up  venom  of  a  serpent,  it  burst  out  with  the  direful 
force  given  by  concentration  and  retention. 

At  the  first  outburst,  Annie  had  turned  pale  and 
shrunk  back,  but  now  she  clung  to  the  side  of  Law 
rence,  who,  although  his  face  was  somewhat  blanched 
and  his  form  trembled  a  little  with  excitement,  still 
stood  up  bravely,  and  endeavored,  but  ineffectually, 
to  force  upon  the  old  lady's  attention  a  denial  of  her 
bitter  accusations.  With  face  almost  as  purple  as 
the  bonnet  she  wore,  or  the  umbrella  she  shook  in 
the  air,  the  old  lady  first  addressed  her  niece.  With 
scorn  and  condemnation  she  spoke  of  the  deceit 
which  the  young  girl  had  practised  upon  her.  But 
this  part  of  the  exercises  was  soon  over.  She  seemed 
to  think  that  although  nothing  could  be  viler  than 
Annie's  conduct  towards  her,  still  the  fact  that  Mr 
Null  no  longer  existed,  put  Annie  again  within  her 
grasp  and  control,  and  made  it  unnecessary  to  say 


366  The  Late  Mrs  NulL 

much  to  her  on  this  occasion.  It  was  upon  Law 
rence  that  the  main  cataract  of  her  fury  poured.  It 
would  be  wrong  to  say  that  she  could  not  find  words 
to  express  her  ire  towards  him.  She  found  plenty 
of  them,  and  used  them  all.  He  had  deceived  her 
most  abominably ;  he  had  come  there,  the  expressed 
and  avowed  lover  of  Miss  March  ;  he  had  connived 
with  her  niece  in  her  deceit ;  he  had  taken  advan 
tage  of  ail  the  opportunities  she  gave  him  to  attain 
the  legitimate  object  of  his  visit,  to  inveigle  into  his 
snares  this  silly  and  absurd  young  woman ;  and  he 
had  dared  to  interfere  with  the  plans,  which,  by  day 
and  by  night,  she  had  been  maturing  for  years.  In 
vain  did  Lawrence  endeavor  to  answer  or  explain. 
She  stopped  not,  nor  listened  to  one  word. 

"  And  you  need  not  imagine,"  she  screamed  at 
him,  "  that  you  are  going  to  turn  round,  when  you 
like,  and  marry  anybody  you  please.  You  are  en 
gaged,  body  and  soul,  to  Roberta  March,  and  have 
no  right,  by  laws  of  man  or  heaven,  to  marry  any 
body  else.  If  you  breathe  a  word  of  love  to  any 
other  woman  it  makes  you  a  vile  criminal  in  the  eyes 
of  the  law,  and  renders  you  liable  to  prosecution, 
sir.  Your  affianced  bride  knows  nothing  of  what 
her  double-faced  snake  of  a  lover  is  doing  here,  but 
she  shall  know  speedily.  That  is  a  matter  which  I 
take  into  my  own  hands.  Out  of  my  way,  both  of 
you  !  " 

And  with  these  words  she  charged  by  them,  and 
rushed  out  of  the  arbor,  and  into  the  house. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

THEY  were  not  a  happy  pair,  Lawrence  Croft  and 
Annie  Peyton,  as  they  stood  together  in  the  arbor, 
after  old  Mrs  Keswick  had  left  them.  They  were 
both  a  good  deal  shaken  by  the  storm  they  had 
passed  through. 

"  Lawrence/'  said  Annie,  looking  up  to  him  with 
her  large  eyes  full  of  earnestness,  "  there  surely  is 
no  truth  in  what  she  said  about  your  being  legally 
bound  to  Miss  March?" 

"  None  in  the  least,"  said  Lawrence.  "  No  man, 
under  the  circumstances,  would  consider  himself  en 
gaged  to  a  woman.  At  any  rate,  there  is  one  thing 
which  I  wish  you  to  understand,  and  that  is  that  I 
am  not  engaged  to  Miss  March,  and  that  I  am  en 
gaged  to  you.  No  matter  what  is  said  or  done,  you 
and  I  belong  to  each  other." 

Annie  made  no  answer,  but  she  pressed  his  hand 
tightly  as  she  looked  up  into  his  face.  He  kissed 
her  as  she  stood,  notwithstanding  his  belief  that  old 
Mrs  Keswick  was  fully  capable  of  bounding  down  on 
him,  umbrella  in  hand,  from  an  upper  window. 

"What  do  you  think  she  is  going  to  do?"  Annie 
asked  presently. 

"  My  dear  Annie,"  said  he,  "  I  do  not  believe  that 
there  is  a  person  on  earth  who  could  divine  what 


368  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

your  Aunt  Keswick  is  going  to  do.  As  to  that,  we 
must  simply  wait  and  see.  But,  for  my  part,  I  know 
what  I  must  do.  I  must  write  a  letter  to  Miss 
March,  and  inform  her,  plainly  and  definitely,  that  I 
have  ceased  to  be  a  suitor  for  her  hand.  I  think 
also  that  it  will  be  well  to  let  her  know  that  we  are 
engaged  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Annie,  "  for  she  will  be  sure  to  hear  it 
now.  But  she  will  think  it  is  a  very  prompt  pro 
ceeding." 

"  That's  exactly  what  it  was,"  said  Lawrence, 
smiling,  "  prompt  and  determined.  There  was  no 
doubt  or  indecision  about  any  part  of  our  affair,  was 
there,  little  one  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  said  Annie,  proudly. 

At  dinner  that  day  Annie  took  her  place  at  one 
end  of  the  table,  and  Lawrence  his  at  the  other,  but 
the  old  lady  did  not  make  her  appearance.  She  was 
so  erratic  in  her  goings  and  comings,  and  had  so 
often  told  them  they  must  never  wait  for  her,  that 
Annie  cut  the  ham,  and  Lawrence  carved  the  fowl, 
and  the  meal  proceeded  without  her.  But  while 
they  were  eating  Mrs  Keswick  was  heard  coming 
down  stairs  from  her  room,  the  front  door  was 
opened  and  slammed  violently,  and  from  the  dining- 
room  windows  they  saw  her  go  down  the  steps, 
across  the  yard,  and  out  of  the  gate. 

"  I  do  hope,"  ejaculated  Annie,  "  that  she  has  not 
gone  away  to  stay  ! " 

If  Annie  had  remembered  that  the  boy  Plez,  in 
a  clean  jacket  and  long  white  apron,  officiated  as 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  369 

waiter,  she  would  not  have  said  this,  but  then  she 
would  have  lost  some  information.  "  Ole  miss 
not  gone  to  stay,"  he  said,  with  the  license  of 
an  untrained  retainer.  u  She  gone  to  Howlettses, 
an'  she  done  tole  Aun'  Letty  she'll  be  back  agin  dis 
ebenin'." 

"  If  Aunt  Keswick  don't  come  back,"  said  Annie, 
when  the  two  were  in  the  parlor  after  dinner,  u  I 
shall  go  after  her.  I  don't  intend  to  drive  her  out 
of  the  house." 

"  Don't  you  trouble  yourself  about  that,  my  dear," 
said  Lawrence.  "  She  is  too  angry  not  to  come 
back." 

"  There  is  one  thing,"  said  Annie,  after  a  while, 
"  that  we  really  ought  to  do.  To-morrow  Aunt 
Patsy  is  to  be  buried,  and  before  she  is  put  into  the 
ground,  those  little  shoes  should  be  returned  to 
Aunt  Keswick.  It  seems  to  me  that  justice  to  poor 
Aunt  Patsy  requires  that  this  should  be  done.  Per 
haps  now  she  knows  how  wicked  it  was  to  steal 
them." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "  I  think  it  would  be  well 
to  put  them  back  where  they  belong;  but  how  can 
you  manage  it  ?" 

"  If  you  will  give  them  to  me,"  said  Annie,  "  I 
will  go  up  to  aunt's  room,  now  that  she  is  away, 
and  if  she  keeps  the  box  in  the  same  place  where  it 
used  to  be,  I'll  slip  them  into  it.  I  hate  dreadfully 
to  do  it,  but  I  really  feel  that  it  is  a  duty." 

When  Lawrence,  with  some  little  difficulty,  walked 
across  the  yard  to  get  the  shoes  from  his  trunk, 

24 


370  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Annie  ran  after  him,  and  waited  at  the  office  door. 
"  You  must  not  take  a  step  more  than  necessary," 
she  said,  "  and  so  I  won't  make  you  come  back  to 
the  house." 

When  Lawrence  gave  her  the  shoes,  and  her  hand 
a  little  squeeze  at  the  same  time,  he  told  her  that 
he  should  sit  down  immediately  and  write  his  letter. 

"  And  I,"  said  Annie,  "will  go,  and  see  what  I  can 
do  with  these." 

With  the  shoes  in  her  pocket,  she  went  up  stairs 
into  her  aunt's  room,  and,  after  looking  around 
hastily,  as  if  to  see  that  the  old  lady  had  not  left 
the  ghost  of  herself  in  charge,  she  approached  the 
closet  in  which  the  sacred  pasteboard  box  had 
always  been  kept.  But  the  closet  was  locked. 
Turning  away  she  looked  about  the  room.  There 
was  no  other  place  in  which  there  was  any  proba 
bility  that  the  box  would  be  kept.  Then  she 
became  nervous ;  she  fancied  she  heard  the  click 
of  the  yard  gate ;  she  would  not  for  anything  have 
her  aunt  catch  her  in  that  room  ;  nor  would  she 
take  the  shoes  away  with  her.  Hastily  placing 
them  upon  a  table  she  slipped  out,  and  hurried  into 
her  own  room. 

It  was  about  an  hour  after  this,  that  Mrs  Keswick 
came  rapidly  up  the  steps  of  the  front  porch.  She 
had  been  to  Hewlett's  to  carry  a  letter  which  she  had 
written  to  Miss  March,  and  had  there  made  arrange 
ments  to  have  that  letter  taken  to  Midbranch  very 
early  the  next  morning.  She  had  wished  to  find 
some  one  who  would  start  immediately,  but  as  there 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  371 

was  no  moon,  and  as  the  messenger  would  arrive 
after  the  family  were  all  in  bed,  she  had  been 
obliged  to  abandon  this  more  energetic  line  of 
action.  But  the  letter  would  get  there  soon  enough; 
and  if  it  did  not  bring  down  retribution  on  the 
head  of  the  man  who  lodged  in  her  office,  and  who, 
she  said  to  herself,  had  worked  himself  into  her 
plans,  like  the  rot  in  a  field  of  potatoes,  she  would 
ever  after  admit  that  she  did  not  know  how  to  write 
a  letter.  All  the  way  home  she  had  conned  over 
her  method  of  action  until  Mr  Brandon,  or  a  letter, 
should  come  from  Midbranch. 

She  had  already  attacked,  together,  the  unprin 
cipled  pair  who  found  shelter  in  her  house,  and  she 
now  determined  to  come  upon  them  separately,  and 
torment  each  soul  by  itself.  Annie,  of  course, 
would  come  in  for  the  lesser  share  of  the  punish 
ment,  for  the  fact  that  the  wretched  and  depraved 
Null  was  no  more,  had,  in  a  great  measure,  mitigated 
her  offence.  She  was  safe,  and  her  aunt  intended 
to  hold  her  fast,  and  do  with  her  as  she  would,  when 
the  time  and  Junius  came.  But  upon  Lawrence  she 
would  have  no  mercy.  When  she  had  delivered 
him  into  the  hands  of  Mr  Brandon,  or  those  of 
Roberta's  father,  or  the  clutches  of  the  law,  she 
would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  him,  but  until 
that  time  she  would  make  him  bewail  the  day  when 
he  deceived  and  imposed  upon  her  by  causing  her  to 
believe  that  he  was  in  love  with  another  when  he 
was,  in  reality,  trying  to  get  possession  of  her  niece. 
There  were  a  great  many  things  which  she  had 


372  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

not  thought  to  say  to  him  in  the  arbor,  but  she 
would  pour  the  whole  hot  mass  upon  his  head  that 
evening. 

Stamping  up  the  stairs,  and  thumping  her  um 
brella  upon  every  step  as  she  went,  hot  vengeance 
breathing  from  between  her  parted  lips,  and  her 
eyes  flashing  with  the  delight  of  prospective  fury, 
she  entered  her  room.  The  light  of  the  afternoon 
had  but  just  begun  to  wane,  and  she  had  not  made 
three  steps  into  the  apartment,  before  her  eyes  fell 
upon  a  pair  of  faded,  light  blue  shoes,  which  stood 
side  by  side  upon  a  table.  She  stopped  suddenly, 
and  stood,  pale  and  rigid.  Her  grasp  upon  her  um 
brella  loosened,  and,  unnoticed,  it  fell  upon  the 
floor.  Then,  her  eyes  still  fixed  upon  the  shoes, 
she  moved  slowly  sidewise  towards  the  closet.  She 
tried  the  door,  and  found  it  still  locked  ;  then  she 
put  her  hand  in  her  pocket,  drew  out  the  key, 
looked  at  it,  and  dropped  it.  With  faltering  steps 
she  drew  near  the  table,  and  stood  supporting  her 
self  by  the  back  of  a  chair.  Any  one  else  would 
have  seen  upon  that  table  merely  a  pair  of  baby's 
shoes ;  but  she  saw  more.  She  saw  the  tops  of  the 
little  socks  which  she  had  folded  away  for  the  last 
time  so  many  years  before ;  she  saw  the  first  short 
dress  her  child  had  ever  worn  ;  it  was  tied  up  with 
pink  ribbons  at  the  shoulders,  from  which  hung  two 
white,  plump,  little  arms.  There  was  a  little  neck, 
around  which  was  a  double  string  of  coral  fastened 
by  a  small  gold  clasp.  Above  this  was  a  face,  a 
baby  face,  with  soft,  pale  eyes,  and  its  head  covered 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  373 

with  curls  of  the  lightest  yellow,  not  arranged  in 
artistic  negligence,  but  smooth,  even,  and  regular,  as 
she  so  often  had  turned,  twisted,  and  set  them.  It 
was  indeed  her  baby  girl  who  had  come  to  her  as 
clear  and  vivid  in  every  feature,  limb,  and  garment, 
as  were  the  real  shoes  upon  the  table.  For  many 
minutes  she  stood,  her  eyes  fixed  upon  the  little 
apparition,  then,  slowly,  she  sank  upon  her  knees  by 
the  chair,  her  sun-bonnet,  which  she  had  not  re 
moved,  was  bowed,  so  the  pale  eyes  of  the  little  one 
could  not  see  her  face,  and  from  her  own  eyes  came 
the  first  tears  that  that  old  woman  had  shed  since 
her  baby's  clothes  had  been  put  away  in  the  box. 

Lawrence's  letter  to  Miss  March  was  a  definitely 
expressed  document,  intended  to  cover  all  the 
ground  necessary,  and  no  more ;  but  it  could  not  be 
said  that  it  was  entirely  satisfactory  to  himself! 
His  case,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  was  a  difficult  one  to 
defend.  He  was  aware  that  his  course  might  be 
looked  upon  by  others  as  dishonorable,  although  he 
assured  himself  that  he  had  acted  justly.  It  might 
have  been  better  to  wait  for  a  positive  declaration 
from  Miss  March,  that  she  had  not  truly  accepted 
him,  before  engaging  himself  to  another  lady.  But 
then,  he  said  to  himself,  true  love  never  waits  for 
anything.  At  all  events,  he  could  write  no  better 
letter  than  the  one  he  had  produced,  and  he  hoped 
he  should  have  an  opportunity  to  show  it  to  Annie 
before  he  sent  it. 

He  need  not  have  troubled  himself  in  this  regard, 


374  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

for  he  and  Annie  were  not  disturbed  during  the  rest 
of  that  day  by  the  appearance  of  Mrs  Keswick  ;  but 
after  the  letter  had  been  duly  considered  and  ap 
proved,  he  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  a  messenger. 
There  was  no  one  on  the  place  who  would  under 
take  to  walk  to  Midbranch,  and  he  could  not  take 
the  liberty  of  using  Mrs  Keswick's  horse  for  the 
trip,  so  it  was  found  necessary  to  wait  until  the 
morrow,  when  the  letter  could  be  taken  to  Hew 
lett's,  where,  if  no  one  could  be  found  to  carry  it  im 
mediately,  it  would  have  to  be  entrusted  to  the 
mail  which  went  out  the  next  day.  Lawrence,  of 
course,  knew  nothing  of  Mrs  Keswick's  message  to 
Midbranch,  or  he  would  have  been  still  more  desir 
ous  that  his  letter  should  be  promptly  dispatched. 

The  evening  was  not  a  very  pleasant  one ;  the 
lovers  did  not  know  at  what  moment  the  old  lady 
might  descend  upon  them,  and  the  element  of  un 
pleasant  expectancy  which  pervaded  the  atmos 
phere  of  the  house  was  somewhat  depressing. 
They  talked  a  good  deal  of  the  probabilities  of  Mrs 
Keswick's  action.  Lawrence  expected  that  she 
would  order  him  away,  although  Annie  had  stoutly 
maintained  that  her  aunt  would  have  no  right  to  do 
this,  as  he  was  not  in  a  condition  to  travel.  This 
argument,  however,  made  little  impression  upon 
Lawrence,  who  was  not  the  man  to  stay  in  any  house 
where  he  was  not  wanted ;  besides,  he  knew  very 
well  that  for  any  one  to  stay  in  Mrs  Keswick's 
house  when  she  did  not  want  him,  would  be  an  im 
possibility.  But  he  did  not  intend  to  slip  away  in 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  375 

any  cowardly  manner,  and  leave  Annie  to  bear 
alone  the  brunt  of  the  second  storm.  He  felt  sure 
that  such  a  storm  was  impending,  and  he  was  also 
quite  certain  that  its  greatest  violence  would  break 
upon  him.  He  would  stay,  therefore,  and  meet  the 
old  lady  when  she  next  descended  upon  them,  and, 
before  he  went  away,  he  would  endeavor  to  utter 
some  words  in  defence  of  himself  and  Annie. 

They  separated  early,  and  a  good  deal  of  thinking 
was  done  by  them  before  they  went  to  sleep. 

The  next  morning  they  had  only  each  other  for 
company  at  breakfast,  but  they  had  just  risen  from 
that  meal  when  they  were  startled  by  the  entrance 
of  Mrs  Keswick.  Having  expected  her  appearance 
during  the  whole  of  the  time  they  were  eating,  they 
had  no  reason  to  be  startled  by  her  coming  now, 
but  for  their  subsequent  amazement  at  her  appear 
ance  and  demeanor,  they  had  every  reason  in  the 
world.  Her  face  was  pale  and  grave,  with  an  air  of 
rigidity  about  it,  which  was  not  common  to  her,  for, 
in  general,  she  possessed  a  very  mobile  countenance. 
Without  speaking  a  word,  she  advanced  towards 
Lawrence,  and  extended  her  hand  to  him.  He  was 
so  much  surprised  that  while  he  took  her  hand  in 
his  he  could  only  murmur- some  unintelligible  form 
of  morning  salutation.  Then  Mrs  Keswick  turned 
to  Annie,  and  shook  hands  with  her.  The  young 
girl  grew  pale,  but  said  not  a  word,  but  some  tears 
came  into  her  eyes,  although  why  this  happened 
she  could  not  have  explained  to  herself.  Having 
finished  this  little  performance,  the  old  lady  walked 


376  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

to  the  back  window,  and  looked  out  into  the  flower 
garden,  although  there  was  really  nothing  there 
to  see.  Now  Annie  found  voice  to  ask  her  aunt  if 
she  would  not  have  some  breakfast. 

"  No,"  said  Mrs  Keswick,  "  my  breakfast  was 
brought  up-stairs  to  me."  And  with  that  she 
turned  and  went  out  of  the  room.  She  closed  the 
door  behind  her,  but  scarcely  had  she  done  so,  when 
she  opened  it  again  and  looked  in.  It  was  quite 
plain,  to  the  two  silent  and  astonished  observers  of 
her  actions,  that  she  was  engaged  in  the  occupation, 
very  unusual  with  her,  of  controlling  an  excited 
condition  of  mind.  She  looked  first  at  one,  and 
then  at  the  other,  and  then  she  said,  in  a  voice  which 
seemed  to  meet  with  occasional  obstructions  in  its 
course :  "  I  have  nothing  more  to  say  about  any 
thing.  Do  just  what  you  please,  only  don't  talk  to 
me  about  it."  And  she  closed  the  door. 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  all  this  ?  "  said  Lawrence, 
advancing  towards  Annie.  "  What  has  come  over 
her?" 

"I  am  sure  I  don't  know,"  said  Annie,  and  with 
this  she  burst  into  tears,  and  cried  as  she  would 
have  scorned  to  cry,  during  the  terrible  storm  of  the 
day  before. 

That  morning,  Lawrence  Croft  was  a  very  much 
puzzled  man.  What  had  happened  to  Mrs  Kes 
wick  he  could  not  divine,  and  at  times  he  imagined 
that  her  changed  demeanor  was  perhaps  nothing  but 
an  artful  cover  to  some  new  and  more  ruthless  attack. 

Annie  took  occasion  to  be  with  her  aunt  a  good 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  377 

deal  during  the  morning,  but  she  reported  to  Law 
rence  that  the  old  lady  had  said  very  little,  and  that 
little  related  entirely  to  household  affairs. 

Mrs  Keswick  ate  dinner  with  them.  Her  manner 
was  grave,  and  even  stern  ;  but  she  made  a  few  re 
marks  in  regard  to  the  weather  and  some  neighbor 
hood  matters  ;  and  before  the  end  of  the  meal  both 
Lawrence  and  Annie  fancied  that  they  could  see  some 
little  signs  of  a  return  to  her  usual  humor,  which 
was  pleasant  enough  when  nothing  happened  to 
make  it  otherwise.  But  expectations  of  an  early  re 
turn  to  her  ordinary  manner  of  life  were  fallacious  ; 
she  did  not  appear  at  supper;  and  she  spent  the 
evening  in  her  own  room.  Lawrence  and  Annie 
had  thus  ample  opportunity  to  discuss  this  novel 
and  most  unexpected  state  of  affairs.  They  did 
not  understand  it,  but  it  could  not  fail  to  cheer  and 
encourage  them.  Only  one  thing  they  decided 
upon,  and  that  was  that  Lawrence  could  not  go 
away  until  he  had  had  an  opportunity  of  fully  com 
prehending  the  position,  in  relation  to  Mrs  Keswick, 
in  which  he  and  Annie  stood. 

About  the  middle  of  the  evening,  as  Lawrence 
was  thinking  that  it  was  time  for  him  to  retire  to 
his  room  in  the  little  house  in  the  yard,  Letty  came 
in  with  a  letter  which  she  said  had  been  brought 
from  Midbranch  by  a  colored  man  on  a  horse;  the 
man  had  said  there  was  no  answer,  and  had  gone 
back  to  Hewlett's,  where  he  belonged. 

The  letter  was  for  Mr  Croft  and  from  Miss  March. 
Very  much  surprised  at  receiving  such  a  missive, 


378  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Lawrence  opened  the  envelope.  His  letter  to  Miss 
March  had  not  yet  been  sent,  for  the  new  state  of 
affairs  had  not  only  very  much  occupied  his  mind, 
but  it  also  seemed  to  render  unnecessary  any  haste 
in  the  matter,  and  he  had  concluded  to  mail  the 
letter  the  next  day.  This,  therefore,  was  not  in 
answer  to  anything  from  him  ;  and  why  should  she 
have  written  ? 

It  was  with  a  decidedly  uneasy  sensation  that 
Lawrence  began  to  read  the  letter,  Annie  watch 
ing  him  anxiously  as  he  did  so.  The  letter  was  a 
somewhat  long  one,  and  the  purport  of  it  was  as 
follows:  The  writer  stated  that,  having  received 
a  most  extraordinary  and  astounding  epistle  from 
old  Mrs  Keswick,  which  had  been  sent  by  a  special 
messenger,  she  had  thought  it  her  duty  to  write  im 
mediately  on  the  subject  to  Mr  Croft,  and  had  de 
tained  the  man  that  she  might  send  this  letter  by 
him.  She  did  not  pretend  to  understand  the  full 
purport  of  what  Mrs  Keswick  had  written,  but  it 
was  evident  that  the  old  lady  believed  that  an 
engagement  of  marriage  existed  between  herself 
(Miss  March)  and  Mr  Croft.  That  that  gentleman 
had  given  such  information  to  Mrs  Keswick  she 
could  hardly  suppose,  but,  if  he  had,  it  must  have 
been  in  consequence  of  a  message  which,  very  much 
to  her  surprise  and  grief,  had  been  delivered  to  Mr 
Croft  by  Mr  Keswick.  In  order  that  this  message 
might  be  understood,  Miss  March  had  determined 
to  make  a  full  explanation  of  her  line  of  conduct 
towards  Mr  Croft. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  379 

During  the  latter  part  of  their  pleasant  inter 
course  at  Midbranch  during  the  past  summer,  she 
had  reason  to  believe  that  Mr  Croft's  intentions  in 
regard  to  her  were  becoming  serious,  but  she  had  also 
perceived  that  his  impulses,  however  earnest  they 
might  have  been,  were  controlled  by  an  extra 
ordinary  caution  and  prudence,  which,  although  it 
sometimes  amused  her,  was  not  in  the  least  degree 
complimentary  to  her.  She  could  not  prevent  her 
self  from  resenting  this  somewhat  peculiar  action  of 
Mr  Croft,  and  this  resentment  grew  into  a  desire, 
which  gradually  became  a  very  strong  one,  that  she 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  declining  a  proposal 
from  him.  That  opportunity  came  while  they  were 
both  at  Mrs  Keswick's,  and  she  had  intended  that 
what  she  said  at  her  last  interview  with  Mr 'Croft 
should  be  considered  a  definite  refusal  of  his  suit, 
but  the  interview  had  terminated  before  she  had 
stated  her  mind  quite  as  plainly  as  she  had  purposed 
doing.  She  had  not,  however,  wished  to  renew  the 
conversation  on  the  subject,  and  had  concluded  to 
content  herself  with  what  she  had  already  said; 
feeling  quite  sure  that  her  words  had  been  sufficient 
to  satisfy  Mr  Croft  that  it  would  be  useless  to  make 
any  further  proposals. 

When,  on  the  eve  of  her  departure  from  the 
house,  Mr  Keswick  had  brought  her  Mr  Croft's 
message,  she  was  not  only  amazed,  but  indignant ; 
not  so  much  at  Mr  Croft  for  sending  it,  as  at  Mr  Kes 
wick  for  bringing  it.  Miss  March  was  not  ashamed 
to  confess  that  she  was  irritated  and  incensed  to  a 


380  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

high  degree  that  a  gentleman  who  had  held  the  posi 
tion  towards  her  that  Mr  Keswick  had  held,  should 
bring  her  such  a  message  from  another  man.  She 
was,  therefore,  seized  with  a  sudden  impulse  to 
punish  him,  and,  without  in  the  least  expecting  that 
he  would  carry  such  an  answer,  she  had  given  him 
the  one  which  he  had  taken  to  Mr  Croft.  Having, 
until  the  day  on  which  she  was  writing,  heard 
nothing  further  on  the  subject,  she  had  supposed 
that  her  expectations  had  been  realized.  But  on 
this  day  the  astonishing  letter  from  Mrs  Keswick 
had  arrived,  and  it  made  her  understand  that  not 
only  had  her  impulsive  answer  been  delivered,  but 
that  Mr.  Croft  had  informed  other  persons  that  he 
had  been  accepted.  She  wished,  therefore,  to  lose 
no  time  in  stating  to  Mr  Croft  that  what  she  had 
said  to  him,  with  her  own  lips,  was  to  be  received  as 
her  final  resolve  ;  and  that  the  answer  given  to  Mr 
Keswick  was  not  intended  for  Mr  Croft's  ears. 

Miss  March  then  went  on  to  say  that  it  might  be 
possible  that  she  owed  Mr  Croft  an  apology  for  the 
somewhat  ungracious  manner  in  which  she  had 
treated  him  at  Mrs  Keswick's  house;  but  she  assured 
herself  that  Mr.  Croft  owed  her  an  apology,  not  only 
for  the  manner  of  his  attentions,  but  for  the  peculiar 
publicity  he  had  given  them.  In  that  case  the  apol 
ogies  neutralized  each  other.  Miss  March  had  no 
intention  of  answering  Mrs  Keswick's  letter.  Under 
no  circumstances  could  she  have  considered,  for  a 
moment,  its  absurd  suggestions  and  recommenda 
tions  ;  and  it  contained  allusions  to  Mr.  Croft  and 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  381 

another  person  which,  if  not  founded  upon  the 
imagination  of  Mrs  Keswick,  certainly  concerned 
nothing  with  which  Miss  March  had  anything  to  do. 

The  proud  spirit  of  Lawrence  Croft  was  a  good 
d^al  ruffled  when  he  read  this  letter,  but  he  made 
no  remark  about  it.  "Would  you  like  to  read  it?" 
he  said  to  Annie. 

She  greatly  desired  to  read  it,  but  there  was  some 
thing  in  her  lover's  face,  and  in  the  tone  in  which  he 
spoke,  which  made  her  suspect  that  the  reading  of 
that  letter  might  be,  in  some  degree,  humiliating  to 
him.  She  was  certain,  from  the  expression  of  his 
face  as  he  read  it,  that  the  letter  contained  matter 
very  unpleasant  to  Lawrence,  and  it  might  be  that 
it  would  wound  him  to  have  another  person,  especi 
ally  herself,  read  them  ;  and  so  she  said  :  "  I  don't 
care  to  read  it  if  you  will  tell  me  why  she  wrote  to 
you,  and  the  point  of  what  she  says." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Lawrence.  And  he  crumpled 
the  letter  in  his  hand  as  he  spoke.  "  She  wrote,"  he 
continued,  "in  consequence  of  a  letter  she  has  had 
from  your  aunt." 

"  What !  "  exclaimed  Annie.  "  Did  Aunt  Keswick 
write  to  her  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  "and  sent  it  by  a  special 
messenger.  She  must  have  told  her  all  the  heinous 
crimes  with  which  she  charged  you  and  me,  partic 
ularly  me ;  and  this  must  have  been  the  first  intima 
tion  to  Miss  March  that  her  cousin  had  given  me 
the  answer  she  made  to  him  ;  therefore  Miss  March 
writes  in  haste  to  let  me  know  that  she  did  not 


382  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

intend  that  that  answer  should  be  given  to  me, 
and  that  she  wishes  it  generally  understood  that  I 
have  no  more  connection  with  her  than  I  have  with 
the  Queen  of  Spain.  That  is  the  sum  and  substance 
of  the  letter." 

"  I  knew  as  well  as  I  know  anything  in  the  world," 
said  Annie,  "  that  that  message  Junius  brought  you 
meant  nothing."  And,  taking  the  crumpled  letter 
from  his  hand,  she  threw  it  on  the  few  embers  that 
remained  in  the  fireplace ;  and,  as  it  blazed  and 
crumbled  into  black  ashes,  she  said  :  "  Now  that  is 
the  end  of  Roberta  March  ! " 

"Yes,"  said  Lawrence,  emphasizing  his  remark 
with  an  encircling  arm,  "so  far  as  we  are  concerned, 
that  is  the  end  of  her." 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

ON  the  next  day,  old  Aunt  Patsy  was  buried. 
Mrs  Keswick  and.  Annie  attended  the  ceremonies  in 
the  cabin,  but  they  did  not  go  to  the  burial.  After 
a  time,  it  might  be  in  a  week  or  two,  or  it  might  be 
in  a  year,  the  funeral  sermon  would  be  preached  in 
the  church,  and  they  would  go  to  hear  that.  Aunt 
Patsy  never  finished  her  crazy  quilt,  several  pieces 
being  wanted  to  one  corner  of  it ;  but  in  the  few 
days  preceding  her  burial  two  old  women  of  the 
congregation,  with  trembling  hands  and  uncertain 
eyes,  sewed  in  these  pieces,  and  finished  the  quilt,  in 
which  the  body  of  the  venerable  sister  was  wrapped, 
according  to  her  well-known  wish  and  desire.  It  is 
customary  among  the  negroes  to  keep  the  re 
mains  of  their  friends  a  very  short  time  after 
death,  but  Aunt  Patsy  had  lived  so  long  upon 
this  earth  that  it  was  generally  conceded  that  her 
spirit  would  not  object  to  her  body  remaining  above 
ground  until  all  necessary  arrangements  should  be 
completed,  and  until  all  people  who  had  known  or 
heard  of  her  had  had  an  opportunity  of  taking  a 
last  look  at  her.  As  she  had  been  so  very  well 
known  to  almost  everybody's  grandparents,  a  good 
many  people  availed  themselves  of  this  privilege. 


384  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

After  Mrs  Keswick's  return  from  Aunt  Patsy's 
cabin,  where,  according  to  her  custom,  she  made  her 
self  very  prominent,  it  was  noticeable  that  she  had 
dropped  some  of  the  grave  reserve  in  which  she  had 
wrapped  herself  during  the  preceding  day.  It  was 
impossible  for  her,  at  least  but  for  a  very  short  time, 
to  act  in  a  manner  unsuited  to  her  nature  ;  and  re 
serve  and  constraint  had  never  been  suited  to  her 
nature.  She,  therefore,  began  to  speak  on  general 
subjects  in  her  ordinary  free  manner  to  the  various 
persons  in  her  house ;  but  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  she  exhibited  any  contrition  for  the  outrageous 
way  in  which  she  had  spoken  to  Annie  and  Law 
rence,  or  gave  them  any  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
laceration  of  their  souls  on  that  occasion  was  a 
matter  which,  at  present,  needed  any  consideration 
whatever  from  her.  An  angel,  born  of  memory  and 
imagination,  might  come  to  her  from  heaven,  and  so 
work  upon  her  superstitious  feelings  as  to  induce 
her  to  stop  short  in  her  course  of  reckless  vengeance  ; 
but  she  would  not,  on  that  account,  fall  upon  any 
body's  neck,  or  ask  forgiveness  for  anything  she  had 
done  to  anybody.  She  did  not  accuse  herself,  nor 
repent ;  she  only  stopped.  "  After  this,"  she  said, 
"you  all  can  do  as  you  please.  I  have  no  further 
concern  with  your  affairs.  Only  don't  talk  to  me 
about  them." 

She  told  Lawrence,  in  a  manner  that  would  seem 
to  indicate  a  moderate,  but  courteous,  interest  in  his 
welfare,  that  he  must  not  think  of  leaving  her  house 
until  his  ankle  had  fully  recovered  its  strength  ;  and 


The  Late  Mrs  Null  385 

she  even  went  so  far  as  to  suggest  the  use  of  a  patent 
lotion  which  she  had  seen  at  the  store  at  Howlett's. 
She  resumed  her  former  intercourse  with  Annie,  but 
it  seemed  impossible  for  her  to  entirely  forget  the 
deception  which  that  young  lady  had  practised  upon 
her.  The  only  indication,  however,  of  this  resent 
ment  was  the  appellation  which  she  now  bestowed 
upon  her  niece.  In  speaking  of  her  to  Lawrence,  or 
any  of  the  household,  she  invariably  called  her  "  the 
late  Mrs  Null,"  and  this  title  so  pleased  the  old  lady 
that  she  soon  began  to  use  it  in  addressing  her  niece. 
Annie  occasionally  remonstrated  in  a  manner  which 
seemed  half  playful,  but  was  in  fact  quite  earnest, 
but  her  aunt  paid  no  manner  of  attention  to  her 
words,  and  continued  to  please  herself  by  this  half- 
sarcastic  method  of  alluding  to  her  niece's  fictitious 
matrimonial  state. 

Letty,  and  the  other  servants,  were  at  first  much 
astonished  by  the  new  title  given  to  Miss  Annie,  and 
the  only  way  in  which  they  could  explain  it  was  by 
supposing  that  Mr  Null  had  gone  off  somewhere 
and  died  ;  and  although  they  could  not  understand 
why  Miss  Annie  should  show  so  little  grief  in  the 
matter,  and  why  she  had  not  put  on  mourning,  they 
imagined  that  these  were  customs  which  she  had 
learned  in  the  North. 

Lawrence  advised  Annie  to  pay  no  attention  to 
this  whim  of  her  aunt.  "  It  don't  hurt  either  of  us," 
he  said,  "  and  we  ought  to  be  veiy  glad  that  she  has 
let  us  off  so  easily.  But  there  is  one  thing  I  think 
you  ought  to  do ;  you  should  write  to  your  cousin 
25 


386  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Junius,  and  tell  him  of  our  engagement ;  but  I  would 
not  refer  at  all  to  the  other  matter ;  you  are  not 
supposed  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it,  and  Miss 
March  can  tell  him  as  much  about  it  as  she  chooses. 
Mr  Keswick  wrote  me  that  he  was  going  to  Mid- 
branch,  and  that  he  would  communicate  with  me 
while  there,  but,  as  I  have  not  since  heard  from  him, 
I  presume  he  is  still  in  Washington." 

A  letter  was,  therefore,  written  by  Annie,  and  ad 
dressed  to  Junius,  in  Washington,  and  Lawrence 
drove  her  to  the  railroad  station  in  the  spring-wagon, 
where  it  was  posted.  The  family  mail  came  bi 
weekly  to  Hewlett's,  as  the  post-office  at  the  rail 
road  station  was  entirely  too  distant  for  convenience ; 
and  as  Saturday  approached  it  was  evident,  from  Mrs 
Keswick's  occasional  remarks  and  questions,  that  she 
expected  a  letter.  It  was  quite  natural  for  Law 
rence  and  Annie  to  surmise  that  this  letter  was  ex 
pected  from  Miss  March,  for  Mrs  Keswick  had  not 
heard  of  any  rejoinder  having  been  made  to  her 
epistle  to  that  lady.  WThen,  late  on  Saturday  after 
noon,  the  boy  Plez  returned  from  Howlett's,  Mrs 
Keswick  eagerly  took  from  him  the  well-worn  letter- 
bag,  and  looked  over  its  contents.  There  was  a 
letter  for  her  and  from  Midbranch,  but  the  address 
was  written  by  Junius,  not  by  Miss  March.  There 
was  another  in  the  same  hand-writing  for  Annie.  As 
the  old  lady  looked  at  the  address  on  her  letter,  and 
then  on  its  post-mark,  she  was  evidently  disappoint 
ed  and  displeased,  but  she  said  nothing,  and  went 
away  with  it  to  her  room. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  387 

Annie's  letter  was  in  answer  to  the  one  she  had 
sent  to  Washington,  which  had  been  promptly  for 
warded  to  Midbranch  where  Junius  had  been  for 
some  days.  It  began  by  expressing  much  surprise 
at  the  information  his  cousin  had  given  him  in 
regard  to  her  assumption  of  a  married  title,  and 
although  she  had  assured  him  she  had  very  good 
reasons,  he  could  not  admit  that  it  was  right  and 
proper  for  her  to  deceive  his  aunt  and  himself  in 
this  way.  If  it  were  indeed  necessary  that  other 
persons  should  suppose  that  she  were  a  married 
woman,  her  nearest  relatives,  at  least,  should  have 
been  told  the  truth. 

At  this  passage,  Annie,  who  was  reading  the  let 
ter  aloud,  and  Lawrence  who  was  listening,  both 
laughed.  But  they  made  no  remarks,  and  the  read 
ing  proceeded. 

Junius  next  alluded  to  the  news  of  his  cousin's 
engagement  to  Mr  Croft.  His  guarded  remarks  on 
this  subject  showed  the  kindness  of  his  heart.  He 
did  not  allude  to  the  suddenness  of  the  engagement, 
nor  to  the  very  peculiar  events  that  had  so  recently 
preceded  it ;.  but  reading  between  the  lines,  both 
Annie  and  Lawrence  thought  that  the  writer  had 
probably  given  these  points  a  good  deal  of  con 
sideration.  In  a  general  way,  however,  it  was  im 
possible  for  him  to  see  any  objection  to  such  a 
match  for  his  cousin,  and  this  was  the  impression 
he  endeavored  to  give  in  a  very  kindly  way,  in  his 
congratulations.  But,  even  here,  there  seemed  to 
be  indications  of  a  hope,  on  the  part  of  the  writer, 


388  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

that  Mr  Croft  would  not  see  fit  to  make  another 
short  tack  in  his  course  of  love. 

Like  the  polite  gentleman  he  was,  Mr  Keswick 
allowed  his  own  affairs  to  come  in  at  the  end  of  the 
letter.  Here  he  informed  his  cousin  that  his  en 
gagement  with  Miss  March  had  been  renewed,  and 
that  they  were  to  be  married  shortly  after  Christmas. 
As  it  must  have  been  very  plain  to  those  who  were 
present  when  Miss  March  left  his  aunt's  house,  that 
she  left  in  anger  with  him,  he  felt  impelled  to  say 
that  he  had  explained  to  her  the  course  of  action 
to  which  she  had  taken  exception,  and  although 
she  had  not  admitted  that  that  course  had  been  a 
justifiable  one,  she  had  forgiven  him.  He  wished 
also  to  say  at  this  point  that  he,  himself,  was  not  at 
all  proud  of  what  he  had  done. 

"  That  was  intended  for  me/'  interrupted  Law 
rence. 

"  Well,  if  you  understand  it,  it  is  all  right,"  said 
Annie. 

Junius  went  on  to  say  that  the  renewal  of  his 
engagement  was  due,  in  great  part,  to  Miss  March's 
visit  to  his  aunt ;  and  to  a  letter  she  had  received 
from  her.  A  few  days  of  intercourse  with  Mrs 
Keswick,  whom  she  had  never  before  seen,  and  the 
tenor  and  purpose  of  that  letter,  had  persuaded 
Miss  March  that  his  aunt  was  a  person  whose  mind 
had  passed  into  a  condition  when  its  opposition  or 
its  action  ought  not  to  be  considered  by  persons 
who  were  intent  upon  their  own  welfare.  His 
own  arrival  at  Midbranch,  at  this  juncture,  had 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  389 

resulted  in  the  happy  renewal  of  their  engage 
ment. 

"  I  don't  know  Junius  half  as  well  as  I  wish  I 
did,"  said  Annie,  as  she  finished  the  letter,  "  but  I 
am  very  sure,  indeed,  that  he  will  make  a  good  hus 
band,  and  I  am  glad  he  has  got  Roberta  March — as 
he  wants  her. 

"  Did  you  emphasize  '  he  '  ?"  asked  Lawrence. 

"  I  will  emphasize  it,  if  you  would  like  to  hear  me 
do  it,"  said  she. 

"  It's  very  queer,"  remarked  Annie,  after  a  little 
pause,  "  that  I  should  have  been  so  anxious  to  pre 
serve  poor  Junius  from  your  clutches,  and  that,  after 
all  I  did  to  save  him,  I  should  fall  into  those  clutches 
myself." 

Whereupon  Lawrence,  much  to  her  delight,  told 
her  the  story  of  the  anti-detective. 

Mrs  Keswick  sat  down  in  her  room,  and  read  her 
letter.  She  had  no  intention  of  abandoning  her 
resolution  to  let  things  go  as  they  would  ;  and,  there 
fore,  did  not  expect  to  follow  up,  with  further  words 
or  actions,  anything  she  had  written  in  her  letter  to 
Roberta  March.  But  she  had  had  a  very  strong 
curiosity  to  know  what  that  lady  would  say  in 
answer  to  said  letter,  and  she  was  therefore  disap 
pointed  and  displeased  that  the  missive  she  had 
received  was  from  her  nephew,  and  not  from  Miss 
March.  She  did  not  wish  to  have  a  letter  from 
Junius.  She  knew,  or  rather  very  much  feared, 
that  it  would  contain  news  which  would  be  bad 
news  to  her,  and  although  she  was  sure  that  such 


39°  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

news  would  come  to  her  sooner  or  later,  she  was 
very  much  averse  to  receiving  it. 

His  letter  to  her  merely  touched  upon  the  points 
of  Mrs  Null,  and  his  cousin's  engagement  to  Mr 
Croft ;  but  it  was  almost  entirely  filled  with  the  an 
nouncement,  and  most  earnest  defence,  of  his  own 
engagement  to  Roberta  March.  He  said  a  great  deal 
upon  this  subject,  and  he  said  it  well.  But  it  is 
doubtful  if  his  fervid,  and  often  affectionate,  expres 
sions  made  much  impression  upon  his  aunt.  Noth 
ing  could  make  the  old  lady  like  this  engagement, 
but  she  had  made  up  her  mind  that  he  might  do  as 
he  pleased,  and  it  didn't  matter  what  he  said  about 
it ;  he  had  done  it,  and  there  was  an  end  of  it. 

But  there  was  one  thing  that  did  matter  :  That  un 
principled  and  iniquitous  old  man  Brandon  had  had 
his  own  way  at  last  ;  and  she  and  her  way  had  been 
set  aside.  This  was  the  last  of  a  series  of  injuries 
to  her  and  her  family  with  which  she  charged  Mr 
Brandon  and  his  family  ;  but  it  was  the  crowning 
wrong.  The  injury  itself  she  did  not  so  much  de 
plore,  as  that  the  injurer  would  profit  by  it.  Arrested 
in  her  course  of  raging  passion  by  a  sudden  flood  of 
warm  and  irresistible  emotion,  she  had  resigned, 
as  impetuously  as  she  had  taken  them  up,  her  pur 
poses  of  vengeance,  and  consequently,  her  plans  for 
her  nephew  and  niece.  But  she  was  a  keen-minded, 
as  well  as  passionate  old  woman,  and  when  she  had 
considered  the  altered  state  of  affairs,  she  was  able 
to  see  in  it  advantages  as  well  as  disappointment 
and  defeat.  From  what  she  had  learned  of  Law- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  391 

rence  Croft's  circumstances  and  position,  and  she 
had  made  a  good  many  inquiries  on  this  subject  of 
Roberta  March,  he  was  certainly  a  good  match  for 
Annie  ;  and,  although  she  hated  to  have  anything  to 
do  with  Midbranch,  it  could  not  be  a  bad  thing  for 
Junius  to  be  master  of  that  large  estate,  and  that 
Mr  Brandon  had  repeatedly  declared  he  would  be,  if 
he  married  Roberta.  Thus,  in  the  midst  of  these 
reverses,  there  was  something  to  comfort  her,  and 
reconcile  her  to  them.  But  there  was  no  balm  for 
the  wound  caused  by  Mr  Brandon's  success  and  her 
failure. 

With  the  letter  of  Junius  open  in  her  hand,  she 
sat,  for  a  long  time,  in  bitter  meditation.  At  length 
a  light  gradually  spread  itself  over  her  gloomy 
countenance.  Her  eyes  sparkled ;  she  sat  up 
straight  in  her  chair,  and  a  broad  smile  changed  the 
course  of  the  wrinkles  on  her  cheeks.  She  arose  to 
her  feet ;  she  gave  her  head  a  quick  jerk  of  affirma 
tion  ;  she  clapped  one  hand  upon  the  other;  and 
she  said  aloud  :  "  I  will  bless,  not  curse  !  " 

And  with  that  she  went  happy  to  bed. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

ON  the  following  Monday,  Lawrence  announced 
that  his  ankle  was  now  quite  well  enough  for  him  to 
go  to  New  York,  where  his  affairs  required  his 
presence.  Neither  he,  nor  the  late  Mrs  Null,  re 
garded  this  parting  with  any  satisfaction,  but  their 
very  natural  regrets  at  the  necessary  termination  of 
these  happy  autumn  days  were  a  good  deal  tem 
pered  by  the  fact  that  Lawrence  intended  to  return 
in  a  few  weeks,  and  that  then  the  final  arrange 
ments  would  be  made  for  their  marriage.  It  was 
not  easy  to  decide  what  these  arrangements  would 
be,  for  in  spite  of  the  many  wrongnesses  of  the  old 
lady's  head  and  heart,  Annie  had  conceived  a  good 
deal  of  affection  for  her  aunt,  and  felt  a  strong  dis 
inclination  to  abandon  her  to  her  lonely  life,  which 
would  be  more  lonely  than  before,  now  that  Junius 
was  to  be  married.  On  the  other  hand,  Lawrence, 
although  he  had  discovered  some  estimable  points 
in  the  very  peculiar  character  of  Mrs  Keswick,  had 
no  intention  of  living  in  the  same  house  with  her. 
This  whole  matter,  therefore,  was  left  in  abeyance 
until  the  lovers  should  meet  again,  some  time  in 
December. 

Lawrence  and  Annie  had  desired  very  much  that 
Junius  should  visit  them  before  Mr.  Croft's  depart- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  393 

lire  for  the  North,  for  they  both  had  a  high  esteem 
for  him,  and  both  felt  a  desire  that  he  should  be  as 
well  satisfied  with  their  matrimonial  project  as  they 
were  with  his.  But  they  need  not  have  expected 
him.  Junius  had  conceived  a  dislike  for  Mr  Croft, 
which  was  based  in  great  part  upon  disapprobation 
of  what  he  himself  had  done  in  connection  with  that 
gentleman  ;  and  this  manner  of  dislike  is  not  easily 
set  aside.  The  time  would  come  when  he  would 
take  Lawrence  Croft  and  Annie  by  the  hand,  and 
honestly  congratulate  them,  but  for  that  time  they 
must  wait. 

Lawrence  departed  in  the  afternoon  ;  and  the 
next  day  Mrs  Keswick  set  about  that  general  reno 
vation  and  rearrangement  of  her  establishment 
which  many  good  housewives  consider  necessary  at 
certain  epochs,  such  as  the  departure  of  guests,  the 
coming  in  of  spring,  or  the  advent  of  winter. 
These  arrangements  occupied  two  days,  and  on  the 
evening  that  they  were  finished  to  her  satisfaction, 
the  old  lady  informed  her  niece,  that  early  the  next 
morning,  she  was  going  to  start  for  Midbranch,  and 
that  it  was  possible,  nay,  quite  probable,  that  she 
would  stay  there  over  a  night.  "  I  might  go  and 
come  back  the  same  day,"'  she  said,  "but  thirty 
miles  a  day  is  too  much  for  Billy,  and  besides,  I  am 
not  sure  I  could  get  through  what  I  have  to  do,  if  I 
do  not  stay  over.  I  would  take  you  with  me  but 
this  is  not  to  be  a  mere  visit ;  I  have  important 
things  to  attend  to,  and  you  would  be  in  the  way. 
You  got  along  so  well  without  me  when  you  first 


394  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

came  here  that  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  do  very 
well  for  one  night.  I  shall  drive  myself,  and  take 
Plez  along  with  me,  and  leave  Uncle  Isham  and 
Letty  to  take  care  of  you." 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  Annie  would  have 
been  delighted  to  go  to  Midbranch,  a  place  she 
had  never  seen,  and  of  which  she  had  heard  so  much, 
but  she  had  no  present  desire  to  see  Roberta  March, 
and  said  so  ;  further  remarking  that  she  was  very 
willing  to  stay  by  herself  for  a  night.  She  hoped 
much  that  her  aunt  would  proceed  with  the  con 
versation,  and  tell  her  why  she  had  determined  upon 
such  an  extraordinary  thing  as  a  visit  to  Midbranch  ; 
where  she  knew  the  old  lady  had  not  been  for  many, 
many  years.  But  Mrs  Keswick  had  nothing  further 
to  say  upon  this  subject,  and  began  to  talk  of  other 
matters. 

After  a  very  early  breakfast  next  morning,  Mrs 
Keswick  set  out  upon  her  journey,  driving  the  sorrel 
horse  with  much  steadiness,  intermingled  with  sever 
ity  whenever  he  allowed  himself  to  drop  out  of  his 
usual  jogging  pace.  Plez  sat  in  the  back  part  of  the 
spring-wagon,  and  whenever  the  old  lady  saw  an  un 
usually  large  stone  lying  in  the  track  of  the  road, 
she  would  stop,  and  make  him  get  out  and  throw  it 
to  one  side. 

"  I  believe,"  she  said,  on  one  of  these  occasions, 
"  that  a  thousand  men  in  buggies  might  pass  along 
this  road  thrice  a  day  for  a  year,  and  never  think  of 
stopping  to  throw  that  rock  out  of  the  way  of  peo 
ple's  wheels.  They  would  steer  around  it  every  time, 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  395 

or  bump  over  it,  but  such  a  thing  as  moving  it  would 
never  enter  their  heads." 

The  morning  was  somewhat  cool,  but  fine,  and  the 
smile  which  occasionally  flitted  over  the  corrugated 
countenance  of  Mrs  Keswick  seemed  to  indicate  that 
she  was  in  a  pleasant  state  of  mind,  which  might  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  fine  weather  and  the  good 
condition  of  the  roads,  or  by  cheerful  anticipations 
connected  with  her  visit. 

It  was  not  very  long  after  noonday  that,  with  a 
stifled  remark  of  disapprobation  upon  her  lips,  she 
drew  up  at  the  foot  of  the  broad  flight  of  steps  by 
which  one  crossed  the  fence  into  the  Midbranch 
yard.  Giving  Billy  into  the  charge  of  Plez,  with  di 
rections  to  take  him  round  to  the  stables  and  tell 
somebody  to  put  him  up  and  feed  him,  she  mounted 
the  steps,  and  stopped  for  a  minute  or  so  on  the 
broad  platform  at  the  top  ;  looking  about  her  as  she 
stood.  Everything,  the  house,  the  yard,  the  row  of 
elms  along  the  fence,  the  wide-spreading  fields,  and 
the  farm  buildings  and  cabins,  some  of  which  she 
could  see  around  the  end  of  the  house,  were  all  on  a 
scale  so  much  larger  and  more  imposing  than  those 
of  her  own  little  estate  that,  although  nothing  had 
changed  for  the  better  since  the  days  when  she  was 
familiar  with  Midbranch,  she  was  struck  with  the 
general  superiority  of  the  Brandon  possessions  to 
her  own.  Her  eyes  twinkled,  and  she  smiled  ;  but 
there  did  not  appear  to  be  anything  envious  about 
her. 

She  presented  a  rather  remarkable  figure  as  she 


396  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

stood  in  this  conspicuous  position.  Annie  had 
insisted,  when  she  was  helping  her  aunt  to  array  her 
self  for  the  journey,  that  she  should  wear  a  bonnet 
which  for  many  years  had  been  her  head-gear  on 
Sundays  and  important  occasions,  but  to  this  the 
old  lady  positively  objected.  She  was  not  going  on 
a  mere  visit  of  state  or  ceremony  ;  her  visit  at  Mid- 
branch  would  require  her  whole  attention,  and  she 
did  not  wish  to  distract  her  mind  by  wondering 
whether  her  bonnet  was  straight  on  her  head  or  not, 
and  she  was  so  unaccustomed  to  the  feel  of  it  that 
she  would  never  know  if  it  got  turned  hind  part 
foremost.  She  could  never  be  at  her  ease,  nor  say 
freely  what  she  wished  to  say,  if  she  were  dressed  in 
clothes  to  which  she  was  not  accustomed.  She  was 
perfectly  accustomed  to  her  sun-bonnet,  and  she  in 
tended  to  wear  that.  Of  course  she  carried  her  pur 
ple  umbrella,  and  she  wore  a  plain  calico  dress,  blue 
spotted  with  white,  which  was  very  narrow  and 
short  in  the  skirt,  barely  touching  the  tops  of  her 
shoes,  the  stoutest  and  most  serviceable  that  could 
be  procured  in  the  store  at  Hewlett's.  She  covered 
her  shoulders  with  a  small  red  shawl  which,  much  to 
Annie's  surprise,  she  fastened  with  a  large  and  some 
what  tarnished  silver  brooch,  an  ornament  her  niece 
had  never  before  seen.  Attired  thus,  she  certainly 
would  have  attracted  attention,  had  there  been  any 
one  there  to  see,  but  the  yard  was  empty,  and  the 
house  door  closed.  She  descended  the  steps,  crossed 
the  yard  with  what  might  be  termed  a  buoyant  gait, 
and,  mounting  the  porch,  knocked  on  the  door  with 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  397 

the  handle  of  her  umbrella.  After  some  delay  a 
colored  woman  appeared,  and  as  soon  as  the  door 
was  opened,  Mrs  Keswick  walked  in. 

"  Where  is  your  master?"  said  she,  forgetting  all 
about  the  Emancipation  Act. 

"  Mahs'  Robert  is  in  the  libery,"  said  the  woman. 

"  And  where  are  Miss  Roberta  March  and  Master 
Junius  Keswick  ?  " 

"  Miss  Rob  went  Norf  day  'fore  yestiddy,"  was  the 
answer,  "  an'  Mahs'  Junius  done  gone  'long  to  'scort 
her.  Who  shall  I  tell  Mahs'  Robert  is  come  ?  " 

"  There  is  no  need  to  tell  him  who  I  am,"  said  Mrs 
Keswick.  "Just  take  me  in  to  him.  That's  all  you 
have  to  do." 

A  good  deal  doubtful  of  the  propriety  of  this  pro 
ceeding,  but  more  doubtful  of  the  propriety  of  oppos 
ing  the  wishes  of  such  a  determined-looking  visitor, 
the  woman  stepped  to  the  back  part  of  the  hall,  and 
opened  the  door.  The  moment  she  did  so,  Mrs 
Keswick  entered,  and  closed  the  door  behind  her. 

Mr  Brandon  was  seated  in  an  arm  chair  by  a  table, 
and  not  very  far  from  a  wood  fire  of  a  size  suited  to 
the  season.  His  slippered  feet  were  on  a  cushioned 
stool;  his  eye-glasses  were  carefully  adjusted  on  the 
capacious  bridge  of  his  nose ;  and,  intent  upon  a 
newspaper  which  had  arrived  by  that  morning's  mail, 
he  presented  the  appearance  of  a  very  well  satisfied 
old  gentleman,  in  very  comfortable  circumstances. 
But  when  he  turned  his  head  and  saw  the  Widow 
Keswick  close  the  door  behind  her,  every  idea  of 
satisfaction  or  comfort  seemed  to  vanish  from  his 


398  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

mind.  He  dropped  the  paper;  he  rose  to  his  feet ; 
he  took  off  his  eye-glasses  ;  he  turned  somewhat  red 
in  the  face  ;  and  he  ejaculated  :  "  What !  madam  !  So 
it  is  you,  Mrs  Keswick  ?  " 

The  old  lady  did  not  immediately  answer.  Her 
head  dropped  a  little,  on  one  side,  a  broad  smile  be- 
wrinkled  the  lower  part  of  her  well-worn  visage,  and 
with  her  eyes  half-closed,  behind  her  heavy  spectacles, 
she  held  out  both  her  hands,  the  purple  umbrella 
in  one  of  them,  and  exclaimed  in  a  voice  of  happy 
fervor  :  "  Robert  !  I  am  yours  !  " 

Mr  Brandon,  recovered  from  his  first  surprise,  had 
made  a  step  forward  to  go  round  the  table  and  greet 
his  visitor  ;  but  at  these  words  he  stopped  as  if  he 
had  been  shot.  Perception,  understanding,  and  even 
animation,  seemed  to  have  left  him  as  he  vacantly 
stared  at  the  elderly  female  with  purple  sun-bonnet 
and  umbrella,  blue  calico  gown,  red  shawl  and  coarse 
boots,  who  held  out  her  arms  towards  him,  and  who 
gazed  upon  him  with  an  air  of  tender,  though  de- 
crepid,  fondness. 

"  Don't  you  understand  me,  Robert  ?"  she  con 
tinued.  "  Don't  you  remember  the  day,  many  a 
good  long  year  ago,  it  is  true,  when  we  walked 
together  down  there  by  the  branch,  and  you  asked 
me  to  be  yours  ?  I  refused  you,  Robert,  and, 
although  you  went  down  on  your  knees  in  the 
damp  grass  and  besought  me  to  give  you  my  heart, 
I  would  not  do  it.  But  I  did  not  know  you  then  as 
I  know  you  now,  Robert,  and  the  words  of  true  love 
which  you  spoke  to  me  that  morning  come  to  me 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  399 

now  with  a  sweetness  which  I  was  too  young  and 
trifling  to  notice  then.  That  heart  is  yours  now, 
Robert.  /  am  yours."  And,  with  these  words,  she 
made  a  step  forward. 

At  this  demonstration  Mr  Brandon  appeared  sud 
denly  to  recover  his  consciousness  and  he  precip 
itately  made  two  steps  backwards,  just  missing 
tumbling  over  his  footstool  into  the  fireplace. 

"  Madam  ! "  he  exclaimed,  "  what  are  you  talking 
about  ?  " 

"  Of  the  days  of  our  courtship,  and  your  love, 
Robert,"  she  said.  "  My  love  did  not  come  then, 
but  it  is  here  now.  Here  now,"  she  repeated,  put 
ting  the  hand  with  the  umbrella  in  it  on  her  breast. 

"  Madam,"  exclaimed  the  old  gentleman,  "you 
must  be  raving  crazy  !  Those  things  to  which  you 
allude,  happened  nearly  half  a  century  ago  ;  and 
since  that  you  have  been  married  and  settled, 
and " 

"  Robert,"  interrupted  the  Widow  Keswick,  "  you 
are  mistaken.  It  is  not  quite  forty-five  years  since 
that  morning,  and  why  should  hearts  like  ours  allow 
the  passage  of  time  or  the  mere  circumstance  of  what 
might  be  called  an  outside  marriage,  but  now  ex 
tinct,  to  come  between  them  ?  There  is  many  a 
spring,  Robert,  which  does  not  show  when  a  man 
first  begins  to  dig,  but  it  will  bubble  up  in  time. 
And,  Robert,  it  bubbles  now."  And  with  her  head 
bent  a  little  downwards,  although  her  eyes  were 
still  fixed  upon  him,  she  made  another  step  in  his 
direction. 


400  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Mr  Brandon  now  backed  himself  flat  against  some 
book-shelves  in  his  rear.  The  perspiration  began  to 
roll  from  his  face,  and  his  whole  form  trembled. 
"  Mrs  Keswick  !  Madam  !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  You 
will  drive  me  mad  !" 

The  old  lady  dropped  the  end  of  her  umbrella  on 
the  floor,  rested  her  two  hands  on  the  head  of  it, 
settled  herself  into  an  easy  position  to  speak,  and, 
with  her  head  thrown  back,  fixed  a  steady  gaze  upon 
the  trembling  old  gentleman.  "  Robert,"  she  said, 
"  do  not  try  to  crush  emotions  which  alv/ays  were  a 
credit  to  you,  although  in  those  days  gone  by  I  didn't 
tell  you  so.  Your  hair  was  black  then,  Robert,  and 
you  looked  taller,  for  you  hadn't  a  stoop,  and  your  face 
was  very  smooth,  and  so  was  mine,  and  I  remember 
I  had  on  a  white  dress  with  a  broad  ribbon  around 
the  waist,  and  neither  of  us  wore  specs.  What  you 
said  to  me  was  very  fresh  and  sweet,  Robert,  and  it 
all  comes  to  me  now  as  it  never  came  before.  You 
have  never  loved  another,  Robert,  and  you  don't 
know  how  happy  it  makes  me  to  think  that,  and  to 
know  that  I  can  come  to  you  and  find  you  the  same 
true  and  constant  lover  that  you  were  when,  forty- 
five  years  ago,  you  went  down  on  your  knees  to  me 
by  the  branch.  We  can't  stifle  those  feelings  of  by 
gone  days  which  well  up  in  our  bosoms,  Robert. 
After  all  these  years  I  have  learned  what  a  prize 
your  true  love  is,  and  I  return  it.  I  am  yours." 

At  this  Mr  Brandon  opened  his  mouth  with  a 
spasmodic  gasp,  but  no  word  came  from  him.  He 
looked  to  the  right  and  left,  and  then  made  a  lunge 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  401 

to  one  side,  as  if  he  would  run  around  the  old  lady 
and  gain  the  door.  But  Mrs  Keswick  was  too  quick 
for  him.  With  two  sudden  springs  she  reached  the 
door  and  put  her  back  against  it. 

"  Don't  leave  me,  Robert,"  she  said,  "  I  have  not 
told  you  all.  Don't  you  remember  this  breastpin  ?  " 
unfastening  the  large  silver  brooch  from  her  shawl 
and  holding  it  out  to  him.  "You  gave  it  to  me, 
Robert ;  there  were  almost  tears  of  joy  in  your  eyes 
on  the  first  day  I  wore  it,  although  I  was  careful  to 
let  you  know  it  meant  nothing.  Where  are  those 
tears  to-day,  Robert  ?  It  means  something  now.  I 
have  kept  it  all  these  years,  although  in  the  life 
time  of  Mr  Keswick  it  was  never  cleaned,  and  I 
wore  it  to-day,  Robert,  that  your  eyes  might  rest 
upon  it  once  again,  and  that  you  might  speak  to 
me  the  words  you  spoke  to  me  the  day  after  I  let 
you  pin  it  on  my  white  neckerchief.  You  waited 
then,  Robert,  a  whole  day  before  you  spoke,  but 
you  needn't  wait  now.  Let  your  heart  speak  out, 
dear  Robert." 

But  dear  Robert  appeared  to  have  no  power  to 
speak,  on  this  or  any  other  subject.  He  was  half 
sitting,  half  leaning  on  the  corner  of  a  table  which 
stood  by  a  window,  out  of  which  he  gave  sudden 
agonized  and  longing  glances,  as  if,  had  he  strength 
enough,  he  would  raise  the  sash  and  leap  out. 

The  old  lady,  however,  had  speech  enough  for 

two.     "  Robert,"  she  exclaimed,  "  how  happy  may 

we  be,  yet !     If  you  wish  to  give  up,  to  a  younger 

couple,  this  spacious  mansion,  these  fine  grounds  and 

26 


402  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

noble  elms,  and  come  to  my  humble  home,  I  shall 
only  say  to  you,  *  Robert,  come ! '  I  shall  be  alone 
there,  Robert,  and  shall  welcome  you  with  joy.  I 
have  nobody  now  to  give  anything  to.  The  late 
Mrs  Null,  by  which  I  mean  my  niece,  will  marry  a 
man  who,  if  reports  don't  lie,  is  rich  enough  to  make 
herwant  nothing  that  I  have;  and  as  for  Junius,  he 
is  to  have  your  property,  as  we  all  know.  So  all  I 
have  is  yours,  if  you  choose  to  come  to  me,  Robert. 
But,  if  you  would  rather  live  here,  I  will  come  to 
you,  and  the  young  people  can  board  with  us  until 
your  decease  ;  after  that,  I'll  board  with  them.  And 
I'm  not  sure,  Robert,  but  I  like  the  plan  of  coming 
here  best.  There  are  lots  of  improvements  we  could 
make  on  this  place,  with  you  to  furnish  the  money, 
and  me  to  advise  and  direct.  The  first  thing  I'd  do 
would  be  to  have  down  those  abominable  steps  over 
the  front'  fence,  and  put  a  decent  gate  in  its  place  ; 
and  then  we  would  have  a  gravelled  walk  across  the 
yard  to  the  porch,  wide  enough  for  you  and  me, 
Robert,  to  walk  together  arm-in-arm  when  we  would 
go  out  to  look  over  the  plantation,  or  stroll  down  to 
that  spot  on  the  branch,  Robert,  where  the  first 
plightings  of  our  troth  began." 

The  words  of  tender  reminiscence,  and  of  fond 
though  rather  late  devotion,  with  which  Mrs  Keswick 
had  stabbed  and  gashed  the  soul  of  the  poor  old 
gentleman,  had  at  first  deranged  his  senses,  and  then 
driven  him  into  a  state  of  abject  despair,  but  the 
practical  remarks  which  succeeded  seemed  to  have  a 
more  direful  effect  upon  him.  The  idea  of  the  being 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  403 

with  the  sun-bonnet  and  the  umbrella  entering  into 
his  life  at  Midbranch,  tearing  down  the  broad  steps 
which  his  honored  father  had  built,  cutting  a  grav 
elled  path  across  the  green  turf  which  had  been  the 
pride  of  generations,  and  doing,  no  man  could  say 
what  else,  of  advice  and  direction,  seemed  to  strike 
a  chill  of  terror  into  his  very  bones. 

The  quick  perception  of  Mrs  Keswick  told  her 
that  it  was  time  to  terminate  the  interview.  "  I  will 
not  say  anything  more  to  you  now,  Robert,"  she 
said.  "  Of  course  you  have  been  surprised  at  my 
coming  to  you  to-day,  and  accepting  your  offer  of 
marriage,  and  you  must  have  time  to  quiet  your 
mind,  and  think  it  over.  I  don't  doubt  your  affec 
tion,  Robert,  and  I  don't  want  to  hurry  you.  T  am 
going  to  stay  here  to-night,  so  that  we  can  have 
plenty  of  time  to  settle  everything  comfortably.  I'll 
go  now  and  get  one  of  the  servants  to  show  me  to  a 
room  where  I  can  take  off  my  things.  I'll  see  you 
again  at  dinner." 

And,  with  a  smile  of  antiquated  coyness,  she  left 
the  room. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

MR  BRANDON  was  not  a  weak  man,  nor  one  very 
susceptible  to  outside  influences,  but,  in  the  whole 
course  of  his  life,  nothing  so  extraordinarily  nerve- 
stirring  had  occurred  to  him  as  this  visit  of  old  Mrs 
Keswick,  endeavoring  to  appear  in  the  character  of 
the  young  creature  he  had  wooed  some  forty-five 
years  before.  For  a  long  time,  Mrs  Keswick  had 
been  the  enemy  of  himself  and  his  family ;  and 
many  a  bitter  onslaught  she  had  made  upon  him, 
both  by  letter,  and  by  word  of  mouth.  These  he 
had  borne  with  the  utmost  bravery  and  coolness, 
and  there  were  times  when  they  even  afforded  him 
entertainment.  But  this  most  astounding  attack 
was  something  against  which  no  man  could  have 
been  prepared  ;  and  Mr  Brandon,  suddenly  pounced 
upon  in  the  midst  of  his  comfortable  bachelordom 
by  a  malevolent  sorceress  and  hurled  back  to  the 
days  of  his  youth,  was  shown  himself  kneeling,  not 
at  the  feet  of  a  fair  young  girl,  but  before  a  horrible 
old  woman. 

This  amazing  and  startling  state  of  affairs  was 
too  much  for  him  immediately  to  comprehend.  It 
stunned  and  bewildered  him.  Such,  indeed,  was 
the  effect  upon  him  that  the  first  act  of  his  mind, 
when  he  was  left  alone,  and  it  began  to  act,  was 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  405 

to  ask  of  itself  if  there  were  really  any  grounds 
upon  which  Mrs  Keswick  could,  with  any  reason, 
take  up  her  position  ?  The  absolute  absurdity  of 
her  position,  however,  became  more  and  more  evi 
dent,  as  Mr  Brandon's  mind  began  to  straighten 
itself  and  stand  up.  And  now  he  grew  angry. 
Anger  was  a  passion  with  which  he  was  not  at  all 
unfamiliar,  and  the  exercise  of  it  seemed  to  do  him 
good.  When  he  had  walked  up  and  down  his  li 
brary  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  he  felt  almost  like  his 
natural  self ;  and  with  many  nods  of  his  head  and 
shakes  of  his  fist,  he  declared  that  the  old  woman 
was  crazy,  and  that  he  would  bundle  her  home  just 
as  soon  as  he  could. 

By  dinner-time  he  had  cooled  down  a  good  deal, 
and  he  resolved  to  treat  her  with  the  respect  due  to 
her  age  and  former  condition  of  sanity ;  but  to  take 
care  that  she  should  not  again  be  alone  with  him, 
and  to  arrange  that  she  should  return  to  her  home 
that  day. 

Mrs  Keswick  came  to  the  table  with  a  smiling 
face,  and  wearing  a  close-fitting  white  cap,  which 
looked  like  a  portion  of  her  night  gear,  tied  under 
her  chin  with  broad,  stiff  strings.  In  this  she  ap 
peared  to  her  host  as  far  more  hideous  than  when 
wearing  her  sun-bonnet.  Mr  Brandon  had  arranged 
that  two  servants  should  wait  upon  the  table,  so 
that  one  of  them  should  always  be  in  the  room,  but 
in  his  supposition  that  the  presence  of  a  third  per 
son  would  have  any  effect  upon  the  expression  of 
Mrs  Keswick's  fond  regard,  he  was  mistaken.  The 


406  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

meal  had  scarcely  begun,  when  she  looked  around 
the  room  with  wide-open  eyes,  and  exclaimed: 
"  Robert,  if  we  should  conclude  to  remain  here,  I 
think  we  will  have  this  room  re-papered  with  some 
light-colored  paper.  I  like  a  light  dining-room. 
This  is  entirely  too  dark." 

The  two  servants,  one  of  whom  was  our  old 
friend,  Peggy,  actually  stopped  short  in  their  duties 
at  this  remark;  and  as  for  Mr  Brandon,  his  appe 
tite  immediately  left  him,  to  return  no  more  during 
that  meal. 

He  was  obliged  to  make  some  answer  to  this 
speech,  and  so  he  briefly  remarked  that  he  had  no 
desire  to  alter  the  appearance  of  his  dining-room, 
and  then  hastened  to  change  the  conversation  by 
making  some  inquiries  about  that  interesting  young 
woman,  her  niece,  who,  he  had  been  informed,  was 
not  a  married  lady,  as  he  had  supposed  her  to  be. 

At  this  intelligence,  Peggy  dropped  two  spoons 
and  a  fork ;  she  had  never  heard  it  before. 

"  The  late  Mrs  Null,"  said  Mrs  Keswick,  "  is  a 
young  woman  who  likes  to  cut  her  clothes  after  her 
own  patterns.  They  may  be  becoming  to  her  when 
they  are  made  up,  or  they  may  not  be.  But  I  am 
inclined  to  think  she  has  got  a  pretty  good  head  on 
her  shoulders,  and  perhaps  she  knows  what  suits 
her  as  well  as  any  of  us.  I  can't  say  it  was  easy  to 
forgive  the  trick  she  played  on  me,  her  own  aunt, 
and  just  the  same,  in  fact,  as  her  mother.  But 
Robert,"  and  as  she  said  this  the  old  lady  laid  down 
her  knife  and  fork,  and  looked  tenderly  at  Mr 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  407 

Brandon,  "  I  have  determined  to  forgive  everybody, 
and  to  overlook  everything,  and  I  do  this  as  much 
for  your  sake,  dear  Robert,  as  for  my  own.  It 
wouldn't  do  for  a  couple  of  our  age  to  be  keeping 
up  grudges  against  the  young  people  for  their  ways 
of  getting  out  of  marriages  or  getting  into  them. 
We  will  have  my  niece  and  her  husband  here  some 
times,  won't  we,  Robert  ?  " 

Mr  Brandon  straightened  himself  and  remarked  : 
"  Mr  Croft,  whom  I  have  heard  your  niece  is  to 
marry,  will  be  quite  welcome  here,  with  his  wife." 
Then,  putting  his  napkin  on  the  table,  and  pushing 
back  his  chair,  he  said  :  "  Now,  madam,  you  must 
excuse  me,  for  I  have  orders  to  give  to  some  of  my 
people  which  I  had  forgotten  until  this  moment. 
But  do  not  let  me  interfere  with  your  dinner.  Pray 
continue  your  meal." 

Never  before  had  Mr  Brandon  been  known  to 
leave  his  dinner  until  he  had  finished  it,  and  he  was 
not  at  all  accustomed  to  give  such  a  poor  reason  for 
his  actions  as  the  one  he  gave  now,  but  it  was 
simply  impossible  for  him  to  sit  any  longer  at  table, 
and  have  that  old  woman  talk  in  that  shocking 
manner  before  the  servants. 

"  Robert,"  cried  Mrs  Keswick,  as  he  left  the 
room,  "  I'll  save  some  dessert  for  you,  and  we'll  eat 
it  together." 

Mr  Brandon's  first  impulse,  when  he  found  him 
self  out  of  the  dining-room,  was  to  mount  his 
horse  and  ride  away  ;  but  there  was  no  place  to 
which  he  wished  to  ride  ;  and  he  was  a  man  who 


408  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

was  very  loath  to  leave  the  comforts  of  his  home. 
"  No,"  he  said.  "  She  must  go,  and  not  I."  And 
then  he  went  into  his  parlor,  and  strode  up  and 
down.  As  soon  as  Mrs  Keswick  had  finished  her 
dinner,  he  would  see  her  there,  and  speak  his  mind 
to  her.  He  had  determined  that  he  would  not 
again  be  alone  with  her,  but,  since  the  presence  of 
others  was  no  restraint  whatever  upon  her,  it  had 
become  absolutely  necessary  that  he  should  speak 
with  her  alone. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  Widow  Keswick,  with  a 
brisk,  blithe  step,  entered  the  parlor.  "  I  couldn't 
eat  without  you,  Robert,"  she  cried,  "  and  so  I 
really  haven't  half  finished  my  dinner.  Did  you 
have  to  come  in  here  to  speak  to  your  people?" 

Mr  Brandon  stepped  to  the  door,  and  closed  it. 
"  Madam,"  he  said,  "  it  will  be  impossible  for  me, 
in  the  absence  of  my  niece,  to  entertain  you  here 
to-night,  and  so  it  would  be  prudent  for  you  to 
start  for  home  as  soon  as  possible,  as  the  days  are 
short.  It  would  be  too  much  of  a  journey  for  your 
horse  to  go  back  again  to-day,  and  your  vehicle  is  an 
open  one  ;  therefore  I  have  ordered  my  carriage  to 
be  prepared,  and  you  may  trust  my  driver  to  take 
you  safely  home,  even  if  it  should  be  dark  before 
you  get  there.  If  you  desire  it,  there  is  a  young 
maid-servant  here  who  will  go  with  you." 

"  Robert,"  said  Mrs  Keswick,  approaching  the  old 
gentleman  and  gazing  fondly  upward  at  him,  "  you 
are  so  good,  and  thoughtful,  and  sweet.  But  you  need 
not  put  yourself  to  all  that  trouble  for  me.  I  shall 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  409 

stay  here  to-night,  and  in  your  house,  dear  Robert,  I 
can  take  care  of  myself  a  great  deal  better  than  any 
lady  could  take  care  of  me." 

44  Madam,"  exclaimed  Mr  Brandon,  "  I  want  you 
to  stop  calling  me  by  my  first  name.  You  have  no 
right  to  do  so,  and  I  won't  stand  it." 

44  Robert,"  said  the  old  lady,  looking  at  him  with 
an  air  of  tender  upbraiding,  "  you  forget  that  I  am 
yours,  now,  and  forever." 

Never,  since  he  had  arrived  at  man's  estate,  anc 
probably  not  before,  had  Mr  Brandon  spoken  in 
improper  language  to  a  lady,  but  now  it  was  all  he 
could  do  to  restrain  himself  from  the  ejaculation  of 
an  oath,  but  he  did  restrain  himself,  and  only  ex 
claimed  :  "  Confound  it,  madam,  I  cannot  stand 
this !  Why  do  you  come  here,  to  drive  me  crazy 
with  your  senseless  ravings?" 

"  Robert,"  said  Mrs  Keswick,  very  composedly 
44 1  do  not  wonder  that  my  coming  to  you  and  ac 
cepting  the  proposals  which  you  once  so  heartily 
made  to  me,  and  from  which  you  have  never  gone 
back,  should  work  a  good  deal  upon  your  feelings.  It 
is  quite  natural,  and  I  expected  it.  Therefore  don't 
hesitate  about  speaking  out  your  mind  ;  I  shall  not 
be  offended.  So  that  we  belong  to  each  other  for 
the  rest  of  our  days,  I  don't  mind  what  you  say  now^ 
when  it  is  all  new  and  unexpected  to  you.  You  and 
I  have  had  many  a  difference  of  opinion,  Robert, 
and  your  plans  were  not  my  plans.  But  things 
have  turned  out  as  you  wished,  and  you  have  what 
you  have  always  wanted ;  and  with  the  other  good 


410  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

things,  Robert,  you  can  take  me."  And,  as  she 
finished  speaking,  she  held  out  both  hands  to  her 
companion. 

With  a  stamp  of  his  foot,  and  a  kick  at  a  chair 
which  stood  in  his  way,  Mr  Brandon  precipitately 
left  the  room,  and  slammed  the  door  after  him  ;  and 
if  Peggy  had  not  nimbly  sprung  to  one  side,  he 
would  have  stumbled  over  her,  and  have  had  a  very 
bad  fall  for  a  man  of  his  age. 

It  was  not  ten  minutes  after  this,  that,  looking  out 
of  a  window,  Mrs  Keswick  saw  a  saddled  horse 
brought  into  the  back  yard.  She  hastened  into  the 
hall,  and  found  Peggy.  "  Run  to  Mr  Brandon,"  she 
said,  "and  bid  him  good-bye  for  me.  I  am  going 
up  stairs  to  get  ready  to  go  home,  and  haven't 
time  to  speak  to  him,  myself,  before  he  starts  on 
his  ride." 

At  the  receipt  of  this  message  the  heart  of  Mr 
Brandon  gave  a  bound  which  actually  helped  him 
to  get  into  the  saddle,  but  he  did  not  hesitate  in  his 
purpose  of  instant  departure.  If  he  staid,  but  for  a 
moment,  she  might  come  out  to  him,  and  change 
her  mind,  so  he  put  spurs  to  his  horse  and  galloped 
away,  merely  stopping  long  enough,  as  he  passed  the 
stables,  to  give  orders  that  the  carriage  be  prepared 
for  Mrs  Keswick,  and  taken  round  to  the  front. 

As  he  rode  through  the  cool  air  of  that  fine  Novem 
ber  afternoon,  the  spirits  of  Mr  Brandon  rose.  He 
felt  a  serene  satisfaction  in  assuring  himself  that, 
although  he  had  been  very  angry,  indeed,  with  Mrs 
Keswick,  on  account  of  her  most  unheard  of  and  out- 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  411 

rageous  conduct,  yet  he  had  not  allowed  his  indig 
nation  to  burst  out  against  her  in  any  way  of  which 
he  would  afterward  be  ashamed.  Some  hasty 
words  had  escaped  him,  but  they  were  of  no  impor 
tance,  and,  under  the  circumstances,  no  one  could 
have  avoided  speaking  them.  But,  when  he  had  ad 
dressed  her  at  any  length,  he  had  spoken  dispas 
sionately  and  practically,  and  she,  being  at  bottom  a 
practical  woman,  had  seen  the  sense  of  his  advice, 
and  had  gone  home  comfortably  in  his  carnage. 
Whether  she  took  her  insane  fancies  home  with  her, 
or  dropped  them  on  the  road,  it  mattered  very  little 
to  him,  so  that  he  never  saw  her  again ;  and  he  did 
not  intend  to  see  her  again.  If  she  came  again  to 
his  house,  he  would  leave  it  and  not  return  until  she 
had  gone ;  but  he  had  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he 
would  be  forced  into  any  such  exceedingly  disagree 
able  action  as  this.  He  did  not  believe  she  would 
ever  come  back.  For,  unless  she  were  really  crazy— 
and  in  that  case  she  ought  to  be  put  in  the  lunatic 
asylum — she  could  not  keep  up,  for  any  length  of 
time,  the  extraordinary  and  outrageous  delusion 
that  he  would  be  willing  to  renew  the  feelings  that 
he  had  entertained  for  her  in  her  youth. 

Mr  Brandon  rode  until  nearly  dark,  for  it  took  a 
good  while  to  free  his  mind  from  the  effects  of  the 
excitements  and  torments  of  that  day.  But,  when  he 
entered  the  house  and  took  his  seat  in  his  library 
chair  by  the  fire,  he  had  almost  regained  his  usual 
composed  and  well  satisfied  frame  of  mind. 

Then,  through  the  quietly  opened  door,  came  Mrs 


412  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Keswick,  and  stealthily  stepping  towards  him  in  the 
fitful  light  of  the  blazing  logs,  she  put  her  hand  on 
his  arm  and  said :  "  Dear  Robert,  how  glad  I  am  to 
see  you  back !  " 

The  next  morning,  about  ten  o'clock,  Mrs  Keswick 
sent  her  eighteenth  or  twentieth  message  to  Mr 
Brandon,  who  had  shut  himself  up  in  his  room  since 
a  little  before  supper-time  on  the  previous  evening. 
The  message  was  sent  by  Peggy,  and  she  was  in 
structed  to  shout  it  outside  of  her  master's  door  until 
he  took  notice  of  it.  Its  purport  was  that  it  was 
necessary  that  Mrs  Keswick  should  go  home  to-day, 
and  that  her  horse  was  harnessed  and  she  was  now 
ready  to  go,  but  that  she  could  not  think  of  leaving 
until  she  had  seen  Mr  Brandon  again.  She  would 
therefore  wait  until  he  was  ready  to  come  down. 

Mr  Brandon  looked  out  of  the  window  and  saw 
the  spring-wagon  at  the  outside  of  the  broad  stile, 
with  Plez  standing  at  the  sorrel's  head.  He  re 
membered  that  the  venerable  demon  had  said,  at  the 
first,  that  she  intended  to  stay  but  one  night,  and 
he  could  but  believe  that  she  was  now  really  going. 
Knowing  her  as  he  did,  however,  he  was  very  well 
aware  that  if  she  had  said  she  would  not  leave  until 
she  had  seen  him,  she  would  stay  in  his  house  for  a 
year, unless  he  sooner  went  down  to  her;  therefore 
he  opened  his  door,  and  slowly  and  feebly  descended 
the  stairs. 

"  My  dear,  dear  Robert !  "  exclaimed  Mrs  Kes 
wick,  totally  regardless  of  the  fact  that  Peggy  was 
standing  at  the  front  door  with  her  valise  in  her 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  413 

hand,  and  that  there  was  another  servant  in  the 
hall,  "  how  pale,  and  haggard,  and  worn  you  look  • 
You  must  be  quite  unwell,  and  I  don't  know  but 
that  I  ought  to  stay  here  and  take  care  of  you." 

At  these  words  a  look  of  agony  passed  over  the 
old  man's  face,  but  he  said  nothing. 

"  But  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  stay  any  longer 
this  time,"  continued  the  Widow  Keswick,  "  for  my 
niece  would  not  know  what  had  become  of  me,  and 
there  are  things  at  home  that  I  must  attend  to  ;  but 
I  will  come  again.  Don't  think  I  intend  to  desert 
you,  dear  Robert.  You  shall  see  me  soon  again. 
But  while  I  am  gone,"  she  said,  turning  to  the  two 
servants,  "  I  want  you  maids  to  take  good  care  of 
your  master.  You  must  do  it  for  his  sake,  for  he 
has  always  been  kind  to  you,  but  I  also  want  you  to 
do  it  for  my  sake.  Don't  you  forget  that.  And 
now,  dear  Robert,  good-bye."  As  she  spoke,  she 
extended  her  hand  towards  the  old  gentleman. 

Without  a  word,  but  with  a  good  deal  of  apparent 
reluctance,  he  took  the  long,  bony  hand  in  his,  and 
probably,  would  have  instantly  dropped  it  again,  had 
not  Mrs  Keswick  given  him  a  most  hearty  clutch, 
and  a  vigorous  and  long-continued  shake. 

"  It  is  hard,  dear  Robert,"  she  said,  "  for  us  to  part, 
with  nothing  but  a  hand-shake,  but  there  are  people 
about,  and  this  will  have  to  do."  And  then,  after 
urging  him  to  take  good  care  of  his  health,  so  valu 
able  to  them  both,  and  assuring  him  that  he  would 
soon  see  her  again,  she  gave  his  hand  a  final  shake, 
and  left  him.  Accompanied  by  Peggy,  she  went  out 


414  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

to  the  spring-wagon  and  clambered  into  it.  It  al 
most  surpasses  belief  that  Mr  Brandon,  a  Virginia 
gentleman  of  the  old  school,  should  have  stood  in 
his  hall,  and  have  seen  an  old  lady  leave  his  house 
and  get  into  a  vehicle,  without  accompanying  and 
assisting  her ;  but  such  was  the  case  on  this  occa 
sion.  He  seemed  to  have  forgotten  his  traditions, 
and  to  have  lost  his  impulses.  He  simply  stood 
where  the  Widow  Keswick  had  left  him,  and  gazed 
at  her. 

When  she  was  seated,  and  ready  to  start,  the  old 
lady  turned  towards  him,  called  out  to  him  in  a 
cheery  voice  :  "  Good-bye,  Robert  !  "  and  kissed  her 
hand  to  him. 

Mrs  Keswick  slowly  drove  away,  and  Mr  Brandon 
stood  at  his  hall  door,  gazing  after  her  until  she  was 
entirely  out  of  sight.  Then  he  ejaculated  :  "  The 
Devil's  daughter!  "  and  went  into  his  library. 

"  I  wonders,"  said  Peggy  when  she  returned  to  the 
kitchen,  "  how  you  all's  gwine  to  like  habin  dat  ole 
Miss  Keswick  libin  h'yar  as  you  all's  mistiss." 

"  Who's  gwine  to  hab  her?"  growled  Aunt  Judy. 

"  You  all  is,"  sturdily  retorted  Peggy.  "  Dar  ain't 
no  use  tryin'  to  git  out  ob  dat.  Dat  old  Miss  Kes 
wick  done  gone  an'  kunjered  Mahs'  Robert,  an'  dey's 
boun'  to  git  mar'ed.  I  done  heered  all  'bout  it,  an' 
she's  comin'  h'yar  to  lib  wid  Mahs'  Robert.  But  dat 
don'  make  no  dif 'rence  to  me.  I's  gwine  to  lib  wid 
Mahs'  Junius  an'  Miss  Rob  in  New  York,  I  is.  But 
I's  mighty  sorry  for  you  all." 

"  You  Peggy,"  shouted  the  irate  Aunt  Judy,  "  shut 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  415 

up  wid  your  fool  talk !  When  Mahs'  Robert  marry 
dat  ole  jimpsun  weed,  de  angel  Gabr'el  blow  his  hohn, 
shuh." 

Slowly  driving  along  the  road  to  her  home,  the 
Widow  Keswick  gazed  cheerfully  at  the  blue  sky 
above  her,  and  the  pleasant  autumn  scenery  around 
her  ;  sniffed  the  fine  fresh  air,  delicately  scented  with 
the  odor  of  falling  leaves ;  and  settling  herself  into  a 
more  comfortable  position  on  her  seat,  she  compla 
cently  said  to  herself :  "  Well,  I  reckon  the  old  scape 
grace  has  got  his  money's  worth  this  time !  " 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THERE  were  two  reasons  why  Peggy  could  not  go 
to  live  with  "  Mahs'  Junius  and  Miss  Rob'*  in  New 
York.  In  the  first  place,  this  couple  had  no  inten 
tion  of  setting  up  an  establishment  in  that  city ; 
and  secondly,  Peggy,  as  Roberta  well  knew,  was  not 
adapted  by  nature  to  be  her  maid,  or  the  maid  of 
any  one  else.  Peggy's  true  vocation  in  life  was  to 
throw  her  far-away  gaze  into  futurity,  and,  as  far  as  in 
her  lay,  to  adapt  present  circumstances  to  what  she 
supposed  was  going  to  happen.  It  would  have  de 
lighted  her  soul  if  she  could  have  been  the  adept  in 
conjuring,  which  she  firmly  believed  the  Widow  Kes- 
wick  to  be ;  but,  as  she  possessed  no  such  gift,  she 
made  up  the  deficiency,  as  well  as  she  could,  by  mix 
ing  up  her  mind,  her  soul,  and  her  desires,  into  a  sort 
of  witch's  hodge-podge,  which  she  thrust  as  a  spell 
into  the  affairs  of  other  people.  Twice  had  the  de 
vices  of  this  stupid-looking  wooden  peg  of  a  negro 
girl  stopped  Lawrence  Croft  in  the  path  he  was  fol 
lowing  in  his  pursuit  of  Roberta  March.  If  Law 
rence  had  known,  at  the  time,  what  Peggy  was  doing, 
he  would  have  considered  her  an  unmitigated  little 
demon  ;  but  afterward,  if  he  could  have  known  of  it, 
he  would  have  thought  her  a  very  unprepossessing 
and  conscienceless  guardian  angel. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  417 

As  it  was,  he  knew  not  what  she  had  done,  and 
never  considered  her  at  all. 

Junius  Keswick  took  much  more  delight  in  farm 
ing  than  he  did  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  it  was 
only  because  he  had  felt  himself  obliged  to  do  so, 
that  he  had  adopted  the  legal  profession.  To  be  a 
farmer,  one  must  have  a  farm ;  but  a  lawyer  can 
frequently  make  a  living  from  the  lands  of  other 
men.  He  was  very  willing,  therefore,  to  agree  to 
the  plan  which,  for  years,  had  been  Mr  Brandon's 
most  cherished  scheme  ;  that  he  and  Roberta  should 
make  their  home  at  Midbranch,  and  that  he  should 
take  charge  of  the  estate,  which  would  be  his  wife's 
property  after  the  old  gentleman's  decease.  Roberta 
was  as  fond  of  the  country  as  was  Junius,  but  she 
was  also  a  city  woman  ;  and  it  was  arranged  that  the 
couple  should  spend  a  portion  of  each  winter  in  New 
York,  at  the  house  of  Mr  March. 

Junius,  and  Roberta,  as  well  as  her  father,  hoped 
very  much  that  they  might  be  able  to  induce  Mr 
Brandon  to  come  to  New  York  to  attend  the  wed 
ding,  which  was  to  take  place  the  middle  of  January  ; 
but  they  were  not  confident  of  success,  for  they 
knew  the  old  gentleman  disliked  very  much  to  travel, 
especially  in  winter.  Three  very  pressing  letters 
were  therefore  written  to  Mr  Brandon ;  and  the 
writers  were  much  surprised  to  receive,  in  a  short 
time,  a  collective  answer,  in  which  he  stated  that  he 
would  not  only  be  present  at  the  wedding,  but  that 
he  thought  of  spending  several  months  in  New  York. 
It  would  be  very  lonely  at  Midbranch,  he  wrote, 
27 


4i 8  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

without  Roberta — though  why  it  should  be  more 
so  this  year,  than  during  preceding  winters,  he  did 
not  explain — and  he  felt  a  desire  to  see  the  changes 
that  had  taken  place  in  the  metropolis  since  he  had 
visited  it,  years  ago. 

They  would  not  have  been  so  much  surprised  had 
they  known  that  Mr  Brandon  did  not  feel  himself 
safe  in  his  own  home,  by  night  or  by  day.  Frequently 
had  he  gazed  out  of  a  window  at  the  point  in  the  road 
on  which  the  first  sight  of  an  approaching  spring- 
wagon  could  have  been  caught  ;  and  had  said  to 
himself :  "  If  only  Roberta  were  here,  that  old  hag 
would  not  dare  to  speak  a  word  to  me !  I  don't 
want  to  go  away,  but,  by  George  !  I  don't  see  how 
I  can  stay  here  without  Rob." 

There  was  a  short,  very  black,  and  somewhat  bow- 
legged  negro  man  on  the  place,  named  Israel  Bona 
parte,  who  lived  in  a  little  cabin  by  himself,  and  was 
noted  for  his  unsocial  disposition,  and  his  taciturn 
ity.  To  him  Mr  Brandon  went  one  day,  and  said : 
"  Israel,  I  want  you  to  go  to  work  on  the  fence  rows 
on  my  side  of  the  road  to  Hewlett's.  Grub  up 
the  bushes,  clear  out  the  vines  and  weeds,  and  see 
that  the  rails  and  posts  are  all  in  order.  That  will 
be  a  job  that  I  expect  will  last  you  until  the  roads 
begin  to  get  heavy.  And,  by  the  way,  Israel,  while 
you  are  at  work,  I  want  you  to  keep  a  lookout  for 
any  visitors  that  may  turn  into  our  road,  especially 
if  they  happen  to  be  ladies.  Now  that  Miss  Rob  is 
away,  I  am  very  particular  about  knowing,  before 
hand,  when  ladies  are  coming  to  visit  me  ;  and  when 


77*?  Late  Mrs  Null.  419 

you  see  any  wagon  or  carriage  turn  in,  I  want  you  to 
make  a  short  cut  across  the  fields,  and  let  me  know 
it,  and  I  will  give  you  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  every 
time  you  do  so."  This  was  a  very  pleasant  job  of 
work  for  the  meditative  Israel.  He  was  not  very 
fond  of  grubbing,  but  he  earned  the  greater  part  of 
his  ten  dollars  a  month  and  rations,  by  sitting  on  the 
fence,  smoking  a  corn-cob  pipe,  and  attending  to  the 
second  division  of  the  work  which  his  employer  had 
set  him  to  do. 

Lawrence  Croft  was  in  New  York  at  this  time,  a  very 
busy  man,  arranging  his  affairs  in  that  city,  so  that 
they  would  not  need  his  personal  attention  for  some 
time  to  come ;  he  sub-let,  for  the  remainder  of  his 
lease,  the  suite  of  bachelor  apartments  he  had  occu 
pied,  and  he  stored  his  furniture  and  books.  One 
might  have  imagined  that  he  was  taking  in  all  possi 
ble  sails ;  close  reefing  the  others ;  battening  down 
the  hatches;  and  preparing  to  run  before  a  storm  ; 
and  yet  his  demeanor  did  not  indicate  that  he  ex 
pected  any  violent  commotion  of  the  elements.  On 
the  contrary,  his  friends  and  acquaintances  thought 
him  particularly  blithe  and  gay.  He  told  them  he 
was  going  to  be  married. 

"  To  that  Virginia  lady,  I  suppose,"  said  one.  "  I 
remember  her  very  well;  and  consider  you  for 
tunate." 

"  I  don't  think  you  ever  met  her,"  said  Mr 
Croft.  "She  is  a  Miss  Peyton, from  King  Thomas 
County." 

"  Ah  !  "  remarked  his  interlocutor. 


420  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

Lawrence  walked  to  the  window  of  the  club- 
room,  and  stood  there,  slowly  puffing  his  cigar. 
Had  anybody  met  this  one  ?  he  thought.  He  knew 
she  had  seen  but  little  company  during  her  father's 
life,  but  was  it  likely  that  any  of  his  acquaintances 
had  had  business  at  Candy's  Information  Shop?  As 
this  idea  came  into  his  mind,  there  seemed  to  be 
something  unpleasant  in  the  taste  of  his  cigar,  and 
he  threw  it  into  the  fire.  A  few  turns,  however,  up 
and  down  the  now  almost  deserted  rooms,  restored 
his  tone ;  he  lighted  another  cigar,  and  now  there 
came  up  before  him  a  vision  of  the  girl  who,  from 
loyalty  to  her  dead  father,  preferred  to  sit  all  day 
behind  Candy's  money  desk  rather  than  go  to  a 
relative  who  had  not  been  his  friend.  And  then  he 
saw  the  young  girl  who  took  up  so  courageously  the 
cause  of  one  of  her  own  blood — the  boy  cousin  of 
her  childhood ;  and  with  a  lover's  pride,  Lawrence 
thought  of  the  dash,  the  spirit,  and  the  bravery 
with  which  she  had  done  it. 

"  By  George !  "  he  said  to  himself,  his  eyes  spark 
ling,  and  his  step  quickening,  "  she  has  more  in  her 
than  all  the  rest  of  them  put  together!" 

Who  were  included  in  "  the  rest  of  them,"  Law 
rence  was  not  prepared  just  then  to  say,  but  the 
expression  was  intended  to  have  a  very  wide  range. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  December,  when  Law 
rence  paid  another  visit  to  Mrs  Keswick's  house. 
The  day  was  cold,  but  clear,  and  as  he  drove  up  to 
the  outer  gate,  he  saw  the  old  lady  returning  from 
a  walk  to  Hewlett's.  She  stepped  along  briskly, 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  421 

and  was  in  a  very  good  humor,  for  she  had  just 
posted  a  carefully  concocted  letter  to  Mr  Brandon, 
in  which  she  had  expatiated,  in  her  peculiar  style,  on 
the  pleasure  which  she  expected  from  an  early  visit 
to  Midbranch.  She  had  not  the  slightest  idea 
of  going  there,  at  present,  but  she  thought  it 
quite  time  to  freshen  up  the  old  gentleman's  an 
ticipations. 

Descending  from  his  carriage  to  meet  her,  Law 
rence  was  very  warmly  greeted,  and  the  two  went 
up  to  the  house  together. 

"  I  expect  the  late  Mrs  Null  will  be  very  glad  to 
see  you,"  said  Mrs  Keswick.  "  I  think  she  has 
burned  up  all  her  widow's  weeds." 

"  You  should  be  very  much  obliged  to  your 
niece,"  said  Mr  Croft,  "  for  so  delicately  ridding 
you  of  that  dreadful  fertilizer  man." 

"Humph!"  said  the  old  lady.  "She  cheated 
me  out  of  the  pleasure  of  telling  him  what  I 
thought  of  him,  and  I  shall  never  forgive  her  for 
that." 

As  Lawrence  and  Annie  sat  together  in  the  par 
lor  that  evening,  he  told  her  what  he  had  been  doing 
in  New  York,  and  this  brought  to  her  lips  a  ques 
tion,  which  she  was  very  anxious  to  have  answered. 
She  knew  that  Lawrence  was  rich  ;  that  his  methods 
of  life  and  thought  made  him  a  man  of  the  cities; 
and  she  felt  quite  certain  that  the  position  to  which 
he  would  conduct  her  was  that  of  the  mistress  of  a 
handsome  town-house,  and  the  wife  of  a  man  of 
society.  She  liked  handsome  town-houses,  and  she 


422  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

was  sure  she  would  like  society ;  but  it  would  all  be 
very  new  and  strange  to  her,  and,  although  she  was 
a  brave  girl  at  heart,  she  shrank  from  making  such  a 
plunge  as  this. 

"How  are  we  going  to  live?"  repeated  Law 
rence.  "  That,  of  course,  is  to  be  as  you  shall  choose, 
but  I  have  a  plan  to  propose  to  you,  and  I  want 
very  much  to  hear  what  you  think  about  it.  And 
the  plan  is,  that  we  shall  not  live  anywhere  for  a  year 
or  two,  but  wander,  fancy  free,  over  as  much  of  the 
world  as  pleases  us ;  and  then  decide  where  we  shall 
settle  down,  and  how  we  shall  like  to  do  it." 

If  Annie's  answer  had  been  expressed  in  words,  it 
might  have  been  given  here.  It  may  be  said,  how 
ever,  that  it  was  very  quick,  very  affirmative,  and, 
in  more  ways  than  one,  highly  satisfactory  to  Law 
rence. 

"Is  it  London,  and  a  landlady,  and  tea?"  she 
presently  asked. 

"  Yes,  it  is  that,"  he  said. 

"  Is  it  the  shops  on  the  Boulevards?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Lawrence. 

"  And  the  Appian  Way  ?  And  the  Island  of  Capri? 
And  snow  mountains  in  the  distance?"  she  asked. 

"  In  their  turn,  most  certainly,"  said  her  lover, 
"  and  it  shall  be  the  midnight  sun,  and  the  Nile,  if 
you  like." 

"  Freddy,"  exclaimed  the  late  Mrs  Null,  "  I  thank 
thee  for  what  thou  hast  given  me  !"  And  she  clasped 
the  hand  of  Lawrence  in  both  her  own. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

THE  marriage  of  Junius  Keswick  and  Roberta 
March  was  appointed  for  the  fifteenth  of  January, 
and  Mr  Brandon  had  arranged  to  be  in  New  York  a 
few  days  before  the  event.  He  intended,  however, 
to  leave  Midbranch  soon  after  the  first  of  the  year, 
and  to  spend  a  week  with  some  of  his  friends  in 
Richmond. 

It  was  on  the  afternoon  of  New  Year's  Day,  and 
Mr  Brandon  was  sitting  in  his  library  with  Colonel 
Pinckney  Macon,  an  elderly  gentleman  of  social 
habits  and  genial  temper,  whom  Mr  Brandon  had 
invited  to  Midbranch  to  spend  the  holidays,  and 
who  was  afterwards  to  be  his  travelling  companion 
as  far  as  Richmond.  The  two  had  had  a  very  good 
dinner,  and  were  now  sitting  before  the  fire  smoking 
their  pipes,  and  paying  occasional  attention  to  two 
tumblers  of  egg-nogg,  which  stood  on  a  small  table 
between  them.  They  were  telling  anecdotes  of 
olden  times,  and  were  in  very  good  humor  indeed, 
when  a  servant  came  in  with  a  note,  which  had  just 
been  brought  for  Mr  Brandon.  The  old  gentleman 
took  the  missive,  and  put  on  his  eye-glasses,  but  the 
moment  he  read  the  address,  he  let  his  hand  fall  on 
his  knee,  and  gave  vent  to  an  angry  ejaculation. 

"  It's  from  that  rabid  old  witch,  the  Widow  Kes- 


424  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

wick !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  I've  a  great  mind  to  throw 
it  into  the  fire  without  reading  it." 

"  Don't  do  that,"  cried  Colonel  Macon.  "  It  is  a 
New  Year  present  she  is  sending  you.  Read  it,  sir, 
read  it  by  all  means." 

Mr  Brandon  had  given  his  friend  an  account  of 
his  unexampled  and  astounding  persecutions  by  the 
Widow  Keswick,  and  the  old  colonel  had  been 
much  interested  thereby  ;  and  it  would  have  greatly 
grieved  his  soul  not  to  become  acquainted  with  this 
new  feature  of  the  affair.  "Read  it,  sir,"  he  cried; 
"  I  would  like  to  know  what  sort  of  New  Year  con 
gratulations  she  offers  you." 

•'Congratulations  indeed!"  said  Mr  Brandon; 
"  you  needn't  expect  anything  of  that  kind."  But 
he  opened  the  note ;  and,  turning,  so  that  he  could 
get  a  good  light  upon  it,  began  to  read  aloud,  as 
follows : 
"Mv  DEAREST  ROBERT," 

"  Confound  it,  sir,"  exclaimed  the  reader,  "  did 
you  ever  hear  of  such  a  piece  of  impertinence  as 
that  ?  " 

Colonel  Pinckney  Macon  leaned  back  in  his  chair, 
and  laughed  aloud.  "  It  is  impertinent,"  he  cried, 
"  but  it's  confoundedly  jolly  !  Go  on,  sir.  Go  on,  I 
beg  of  you." 

Mr  Brandon    continued  : 

"It  is  not  for  me  to  suggest  anything  of  the  kind,  but  I  write  this 
note  simply  to  ask  you  what  you  would  think  of  a  triple  wedding  ? 
There  would  certainly  be  something  very  touching  about  it,  and  it 
would  be  very  satisfactory  and  comforting,  I  am  sure,  to  our  nieces 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  425 

and  their  husbands  to  know  that  they  were  not  leaving  either  of  us  to 
a  lonely  life.  Would  we  not  make  three  happy  pairs,  dear  Robert  ? 
Remember,  I  do  not  propose  this,  I  only  lay  it  before  your  kindly 

and  affectionate  heart. 

"  Your  own 

"  MARTHA  ANN  KESWICK." 

Colonel  Macon,  who,  with  much  difficulty  and 
redness  of  face,  had  restrained  himself  during  the 
reading  of  this  note,  now  burst  into  a  shout  of 
laughter,  while  Mr  Brandon  sprang  to  his  feet,  and 
crumpling  the  note  in  his  hand,  threw  it  into  the 
fire  ;  and  then,  turning  around,  he  exclaimed : 
"  Did  the  world  ever  hear  anything  like  that !  Triple 
wedding,  indeed  !  Does  the  pestiferous  old  shrew 
imagine  that  anything  in  this  world  would  induce 
me  to  marry  her?" 

"  Why,  my  dear  sir,"  cried  Colonel  Macon.  "of 
course  she  don't.  I  know  the  Widow  Keswick  as 
well  as  you  do.  She  wouldn't  marry  you  to  save 
your  soul,  sir.  All  she  wants  to  do  is  to  worry  and 
persecute  you,  and  to  torment  your  senses  out  of 
you,  in  revenge  for  your  having  got  the  better  of 
her.  Now,  take  my  advice,  sir,  and  don't  let  her 
do  it. 

"  I'd  like  to  know  how  I  am  going  to  hinder  her," 
said  Mr  Brandon. 

"  Hinder  her!"  exclaimed  Colonel  Macon.  "No 
thing  easier  in  this  world,  sir  !  Just  you  turn  right 
square  round,  and  face  her,  sir ;  and  you'll  see 
that  she'll  stop  short,  sir;  and,  what's  more,  she'll 
run,  sir!  " 

"How   am    I   to   face   her?  "asked  Mr   Brandon. 


426  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

"  I  have  faced  her,  and  I  assure  you,  sir,  she  didn't 
run." 

"  That  was  because  you  did  not  go  to  work  in  the 
right  way,"  said  the  colonel.  "  Now,  if  I  were  in 
your  place,  sir,  this  is  what  I  would  do.  I'd  turn  on 
her  and  I'd  scare  her  out  of  all  the  wits  she  has  left. 
I'd  say  to  her  :  '  Madam,  I  think  your  proposition  is 
an  excellent  one.  I  am  ready  to  marry  you  to-day, 
or,  at  the  very  latest,  to-morrow  morning.  I'll  come 
to  your  house,  and  bring  a  clergyman,  and  some  of 
my  friends.  Don't  let  there  be  the  least  delay,  for 
I  desire  to  start  immediately  for  New  York,  and  to 
take  you  with  me.'  Now,  sir,  a  note  like  that  would 
frighten  that  old  woman  so  that  she  would  leave  her 
house,  and  wouldn't  come  back  for  six  weeks ;  and 
the  letter  you  have  just  burned  would  be  the  last 
attack  she  would  make  on  you.  Now,  sir,  that  is 
what  I  would  do  if  I  were  in  your  place." 

Mr  Brandon  sat  down,  drained  his  tumbler  of  egg- 
nogg,  and  began  to  think  of  what  his  friend  had  said. 
And,  as  he  thought  of  it,  the  conviction  forced  itself 
upon  him  that  this  idea  of  Colonel  Macon's  was  a 
good  one ;  in  fact,  a  splendid  one.  Now  that  he 
came  to  look  upon  the  matter  more  clearly  than  he 
had  done  before,  he  saw  that  this  persecution  on  the 
part  of  the  Widow  Keswick  was  not  only  base,  but 
cowardly.  He  had  been  entirely  too  yielding,  had 
given  way  too  much.  Yes,  he  would  face  her  !  By 
George !  that  was  a  royal  idea !  He  would  turn 
round,  and  make  a  dash  at  her,  and  scare  her  out  of 
her  five  senses. 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  427 

Pens,  ink,  and  paper  were  brought  out ;  more  egg- 
nogg  was  ordered  ;  and  Mr  Brandon,  aided  and  abet 
ted  by  Colonel  Macon,  wrote  a  letter  to  Mrs  Kes- 
wick. 

This  letter  took  a  long  time  to  write,  and  was  very 
carefully  constructed.  With  outstretched  hands,  Mr 
Brandon  met  the  old  lady  on  the  very  threshold 
of  her  proposition.  He  stated  that  nothing  would 
please  him  better  than  an  immediate  wedding,  and 
that  he  would  have  proposed  it  himself  had  he  not 
feared  that  the  lady  would  consider  him  too  impor 
tunate.  (This  expression  was  suggested  by  Colonel 
Macon.)  In  order  that  they  might  lose  no  time  in 
making  themselves  happy,  Mr  Brandon  proposed 
that  the  marriage  should  take  place  in  a  week,  and 
that  the  ceremony  should  be  performed  in  Rich 
mond.  (The  colonel  wished  him  to  say  that  he 
would  immediately  go  to  her  house  for  the  purpose, 
but  Mr  Brandon  would  not  consent  to  write  this. 
He  was  afraid  that  the  widow  would  sit  at  her  front 
door  with  a  shot-gun  and  wait  for  him,  and  that 
some  damage  might  thereby  come  to  an  unwary 
neighbor.)  Each  of  them  had  many  old  friends  in 
Richmond,  and  it  would  be  very  pleasant  to  be  mar 
ried  there.  He  intended  to  start  for  that  city  in  a 
day  or  two,  and  he  would  be  rejoiced  to  meet  her  at 
eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  fifth  instant,  in 
the  corridor,  or  covered  bridge,  connecting  the  Ex 
change  and  Ballard  hotels,  and  there  arrange  all  the 
details  for  an  immediate  marriage.  The  letter  closed 
with  an  earnest  hope  that  she  would  accede  to  this 


428  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

proposed  plan,  which  would  so  soon  make  them  the 
happiest  couple  upon  earth;  and  was  signed  "Your 
devoted  Robert." 

"  By  which  I  mean,"  said  Mr  Brandon,  "that  I  am 
devoted  to  her  destruction." 

The  letter  was  read  over  by  Colonel  Macon,  and 
highly  approved  by  him.  "If  you  had  met  that 
woman,  sir,  when  she  first  came  to  you,"  he  said  to 
Mr  Brandon,  "  with  the  spirit  that  is  shown  in  this 
letter,  you  would  have  put  a  shiver  through  her,  sir, 
that  would  have  shaken  the  bones  out  of  her  um 
brella,  and  she  would  have  cut  and  run,  sir,  before 
you  knew  it." 

The  messenger  from  Hewlett's  was  kept  at  Mid- 
branch  all  night,  and  the  next  morning  he  was  sent 
back  with  Mr  Brandon's  note.  Two  days  afterward 
Colonel  Macon  and  Mr  Brandon  started  for  Rich 
mond,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  they  were 
comfortably  sipping  their  "  peach  and  honey  "  at 
the  Exchange  and  Ballard's. 

The  next  day  was  most  enjoyably  spent  with  a 
number  of  old  friends ;  and  in  reminiscences  of  the 
past  war,  and  in  discussions  of  the  coming  political 
campaign,  Mr  Brandon  had  thrown  off  every  sign 
of  the  annoyance  and  persecution  to  which  he  had 
lately  been  subjected. 

"  By  George,  sir  !  "  said  Colonel  Macon  to  him  the 
next  morning,  '*  do  you  know  that  you  are  a  most 
untrustworthy  and  perfidious  man?" 

"  Sir ! "  exclaimed  Mr  Brandon,  "  what  do  you 
mean?" 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  429 

"  I  mean,"  replied  Colonel  Pinckney  Macon,  with 
much  dignity,  "  that  you  promised  at  eleven  o'clock 
to-day  to  meet  a  lady  in  the  corridor  connecting 
these  two  hotels.  It  wants  three  minutes  of  that 
time  now,  sir,  and  here  you  are  reading  the 
'  Dispatch '  as  if  you  never  made  a  promise  in  your 
life." 

"  I  declare,"  said  Mr  Brandon,  rising,  "  my  conduct 
is  indefensible,  but  I  am  going  to  my  room,  and,  on 
my  way,  will  keep  my  part  of  the  contract." 

"  I  will  go  with  you,"  said  the  colonel. 

Together  they  mounted  the  stairs,  and  approached 
the  corridor ;  and,  as  they  opened  its  glass  doors, 
they  saw,  sitting  in  a  chair  on  one  side  of  the  pas 
sage,  the  Widow  Keswick. 

If  Mr  Brandon  had  not  been  caught  by  his  friend 
he  would  have  fallen  over  backwards.  Regaining 
an  upright  position,  he  made  a  frantic  turn,  as  if  he 
would  fly,  but  he  was  not  quick  enough ;  Mrs  Kes 
wick  had  him  by  the  arm. 

"  Robert  !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  I  knew  how  true 
and  faithful  you  would  be.  It  has  just  struck  eleven. 
How  do  you  do,  Colonel  Macon  ? "  And  she  ex 
tended  her  hand. 

There  was  no  one  in  the  corridor  at  the  time  but 
these  three,  but  the  place  was  much  used  as  a  passage 
way,  and  Colonel  Macon,  who  was  very  pale,  but  still 
retained  his  presence  of  mind,  knew  well,  that  if  any 
one  were  to  come  along  at  this  moment,  it  would 
be  decidedly  unpleasant,  not  only  for  his  friend, 
but  himself.  "  I  am  glad  to  meet  you  again,  Mrs 


430  The  Late  Mrs  Nidi. 

Keswick,"  he  said.  4<  Let  us  go  into  one  of  the 
parlors.  It  will  be  more  comfortable." 

"  How  kind,"  murmured  Mrs  Keswick,  as  she 
clung  to  the  arm  of  Mr  Brandon,  "  for  you  to  bring 
our  good  friend,  Colonel  Macon." 

They  went  into  a  parlor,  which  was  empty,  and 
where  they  were  not  likely  to  be  disturbed.  Mr 
Brandon  walked  there  without  saying  a  word.  His 
face  was  as  pallid  as  its  well-seasoned  color  would 
allow,  and  he  looked  straight  before  him  with  an  air 
which  seemed  to  indicate  that  he  was  trying  to  re 
member  something  terrible,  or  else  trying  to  forget 
it,  and  that  he  himself  did  not  know  which  it  was. 

Colonel  Macon  did  not  stay  long  in  the  parlor. 
There  was  that  in  the  air  of  Mrs  Keswick  which 
made  him  understand  that  there  were  other  places  in 
Richmond  where  he  would  be  much  more  welcome 
than  in  that  room.  He  went  down  into  the  large 
hall  where  the  gentlemen  generally  congregate  ;  and 
there,  in  great  distress  of  mind,  he  paced  up  and  down 
the  marble  floor,  exchanging  nothing  but  the  briefest 
salutations  and  answers  with  the  acquaintances  he 
occasionally  encountered.  The  clerk,  behind  his 
desk  at  one  side  of  the  hall,  had  seen  men  walking 
up  and  down  in  that  way,  and  he  thought  that  the 
colonel  had  probably  been  speculating  in  tobacco  or 
wheat ;  but  he  knew  he  was  good  for  the  amount  of 
his  bill,  and  he  retained  his  placidity. 

In  about  half  an  hour,  there  came  down  the  stairs, 
at  one  end  of  the  hall,  an  elderly  person  who  some 
what  resembled  Mr  Brandon  of  Midbranch.  The 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  431 

clothes  and  the  Hat  were  the  same  that  that  gentle* 
man  wore,  and  the  same  heavy  gold  chain  with 
dangling  seal-rings  hung  across  his  ample  waistcoat ; 
but  there  was  a  general  air  of  haggardness  and  stoop 
about  him  which  did  not  in  the  least  suggest  the 
upright  and  portly  gentleman  who  had  written  his 
name  in  the  hotel  register  the  day  before  yesterday. 

Colonel  Macon  made  five  strides  towards  him,  and 
seized  his  hand.  "  What,"  said  he,  "  how ?  " 

Mr  Brandon  did  not  look  at  him  ;  he  let  his  eyes 
fall  where  they  chose  ;  it  mattered  not  to  him  what 
they  gazed  upon  ;  and,  in  a  low  voice,  he  said :  "  It 
is  all  over." 

"  Over  !  "  repeated  the  colonel. 

Mr  Brandon  put  a  feeble  hand  on  his  friend's  arm, 
and  together  they  walked  into  the  reading  room, 
where  they  sat  down  in  a  corner. 

"  Have  you  settled  it  then  ?  "  asked  Colonel  Macon 
with  great  anxiety.  "  Is  she  gone  ?  " 

"  It  is  settled,"  said  Mr.  Brandon.  "  We  are  to 
be  married." 

"  Married  !  "  cried  Colonel  Macon,  springing  to  his 
feet.  "  Great  Heavens,  man  !  What  do  you  mean?" 

Not  very  fluently,  and  in  sentences  with  a  very 
few  words  in  each  of  them,  but  words  that  sank  like 
hot  coals  into  the  soul  of  his  hearer,  Mr  Brandon 
explained  what  he  meant.  It  had  been  of  no  use, 
he  said,  to  try  to  get  out  of  it ;  the  old  woman  had 
him  with  the  grip  of  a  vise.  That  letter  had  done 
it  all.  He  ought  to  have  known  that  she  was  not  to 
be  frightened,  but  it  was  needless  to  talk  about  that. 


432  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

It  was  all  over  now,  and  he  was  as  much  bound  to 
her  as  if  he  had  promised  before  a  magistrate. 

"  But  you  don't  mean  to  say,"  exclaimed  the 
colonel  in  a  voice  of  anguish,  "  that  you  are  really 
going  to  marry  her  ?  " 

"  Sir,"  said  Mr.  Brandon,  solemnly,  "  there  is  no 
way  to  get  out  of  it.  If  you  think  there  is,  you 
don't  know  the  woman." 

"  I  would  have  died  first  !  "  said  the  colonel.  "  I 
never  would  have  submitted  to  her  !  " 

"I  did  not  submit,"  replied  Mr.  Brandon.  "That 
was  done  when  the  letter  was  written.  I  roused 
myself,  and  I  said  everything  I  could  say,  but  it  was 
all  useless,  she  held  me  to  my  promise.  I  told  her 
I  would  fly  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  rather  than 
marry  her,  and  then,  sir,  she  threatened  me  with 
a  prosecution  for  breach  of  promise ;  and  think 
of  the  disgrace  that  that  would  bring  upon  me ; 
upon  my  family  name ;  and  on  my  niece  and  her 
young  husband.  It  was  a  mistake,  sir,  to  suppose 
that  she  merely  wished  to  persecute  me.  She  wished 
to  marry  me,  and  she  is  going  to  do  it." 

The  colonel  bowed  his  face  upon  his  hands,  and 
groaned.  Mr  Brandon  looked  at  him  with  a  dim 
compassion  in  his  eyes.  "  Do  not  reproach  your 
self,  sir,"  he  said.  "  We  thought  we  were  acting  for 
the  best." 

But  little  more  was  said,  and  two  crushed  old 
gentlemen  retired  to  their  rooms. 

In  the  days  of  her  youth,  Mrs  Keswick  had  been 
very  well  known  in  Richmond  ;  and  there  were  a 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  433 

good  many  elderly  ladies  and  gentlemen,  now  living 
in  that  city,  who  remembered  her  as  a  handsome, 
sparkling,  and  somewhat  eccentric  young  woman, 
and  who  had  since  heard  of  her  as  a  decidedly  ec 
centric  old  one.  Mr  Brandon,  also,  had  a  large 
circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances  in  the  city ;  and 
when  it  became  known  that  these  two  elderly 
persons  were  to  be  married — and  the  news  began  to 
spread  shortly  after  Mrs  Keswick  reached  the  house 
of  the  friend  with  whom  she  was  staying — it  excited 
a  great  deal  of  excusable  interest. 

Mrs  Keswick,  according  to  her  ordinary  methods 
of  action,  took  all  the  arrangements  into  her  own 
hands.  She  appointed  the  wedding  for  the  eighth 
of  January,  in  order  that  the  happy  pair  might 
go  to  New  York,  and  be  present  at  the  nuptials  of 
Junius  and  Roberta.  Mr  Brandon  had  thought  of 
writing  to  Junius,  in  the  hope  that  the  young  man 
might  do  something  to  avert  his  fate,  but  remember 
ing  how  utterly  unable  Junius  had  always  been  to 
move  his  aunt  one  inch,  this  way  or  that,  he  did  not 
believe  that  he  could  be  of  any  service  in  this  case, 
in  which  all  the  energies  of  her  mind  were  evidently 
engaged,  and  he  readily  consented  that  she  should 
attend  to  all  the  correspondence.  It  would,  indeed, 
have  been  too  hard  for  him  to  break  the  direful  truth 
to  his  niece  and  Junius.  He  ventured  to  suggest 
that  Miss  Peyton  be  sent  for,  having  a  faint  hope 
that  he  might  in  some  manner  lean  upon  her ;  but 
Mrs  Keswick.  informed  him  that  her  niece  must 
stay  at  home  to  take  charge  of  the  place.  There 
28 


434  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

were  two  women  in  the  house,  who  were  busy  sew 
ing  for  her,  and  it  would  be  impossible  for  her  to 
come  to  Richmond. 

Her  correspondence  kept  the  Widow  Keswick 
very  busy.  She  decided  that  she  would  be  married 
in  a  church  which  she  used  to  attend  in  her  youth  ; 
and  to  all  of  her  old  friends,  and  to  all  those  of  Mr 
Brandon  whose  names  she  could  learn  by  diligent 
inquiry,  invitations  were  sent  to  attend  the  cere 
mony  ;  but  no  one  outside  of  Richmond  was  in 
vited. 

The  old  lady  did  not  come  to  the  city  with  a 
purple  sun-bonnet  and  a  big  umbrella.  She  wore 
her  best  bonnet,  which  had  been  used  for  church- 
going  purposes  for  many  years,  and  arrayed  her 
self  in  a  travelling  suit  which  was  of  excellent 
material,  although  of  most  antiquated  fashion. 
She  discussed  very  freely,  with  her  friends,  the 
arrangements  she  had  made,  and  protuberant  can 
dor  being  at  times  one  of  her  most  noticeable  char 
acteristics,  she  did  not  leave  it  altogether  to  others 
to  say  that  the  match  she  was  about  to  make  was  a 
most  remarkably  good  one.  For  years  it  had  been 
a  hard  struggle  for  her  to  keep  up  the  Keswick 
farm,  but  now  she  had  fought  a  battle,  and  won  a 
victory,  which  ought  to  make  her  comfortable  and 
satisfied  for  the  rest  of  her  life.  If  Mr  Brandon's 
family  had  taken  a  great  deal  from  her,  she  would 
more  than  repay  herself  by  appropriating  the  old 
gentleman,  together  with  his  possessigns. 

After  the   depression    following   the    first   shock, 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  435 

Mr  Brandon  endeavored  to  stiffen  himself.  There 
was  a  great  deal  of  pride  in  him,  and  if  he  was 
obliged  to  go  to  the  altar,  he  did  not  wish  his  old 
friends  to  suppose  that  he  was  going  there  to  be 
sacrificed.  He  had  brought  this  dreadful  thing 
upon  himself,  but  he  would  try  to  stand  up  like  a 
man,  and  bear  it  ;  and,  after  all,  it  might  not  be  for 
long  ;  the  Widow  Keswick  was  a  good  deal  older 
than  he  was.  Other  thoughts  occasionally  came  to 
comfort  him ;  she  could  not  make  him  continually 
live  with  her,  and  he  had  plans  for  visits  to  Rich 
mond,  and  even  to  New  York;  and,  better  than 
that,  she  might  want  to  spend  a  good  deal  of  time 
at  her  own  farm. 

"  For  the  sake  of  my  name,  and  my  niece,"  he  said 
to  himself,  "  I  must  bear  it  like  a  man." 

And,  in  answer  to  an  earnest  adjuration,  Colonel 
Pinckney  Macon  solemnly  promised  that  he  would 
never  reveal,  to  man  or  woman,  that  his  friend  did 
not  marry  the  Widow  Keswick  entirely  of  his  own 
wish  and  accord. 

It  was  the  desire  of  Mrs  Keswick  that  the  mar 
riage,  although  conducted  in  church,  should  be  very 
simple  in  its  arrangements.  There  would  be  no 
bridesmaids  or  groomsmen ;  no  flowers ;  no  breakfast ; 
and  the  couple  would  be  dressed  in  travelling  cos 
tume.  The  friends  of  the  old  lady  persuaded  her  to 
make  considerable  changes  in  her  attire,  and  a  cos 
tume  was  speedily  prepared,  which,  while  it  sug 
gested  the  fashions  of  the  present  day,  was  also  cal 
culated  to  recall  reminiscences  of  those  of  a  quarter 


436  The  Late  Mrs  Null. 

of  a  century  ago.  This  simplicity  was  the  only 
thing  connected  with  the  affair  which  satisfied  Mr 
Brandon,  and  he  would  have  been  glad  to  have  the 
marriage  entirely  private,  with  no  more  witnesses 
than  the  law  demanded.  But  to  this  Mrs  Keswick 
would  not  consent.  She  wanted  to  have  her  former 
friends  about  her.  Accordingly,  the  church  was 
pretty  well  filled  with  old  colonels,  old  majors,  old 
generals,  and  old  judges,  with  their  wives  and  their 
sisters,  and,  in  a  few  cases,  their  daughters.  All  the 
elderly  people  in  Richmond,  who,  in  the  days  of  their 
youth,  had  known  the  gay  Miss  Matty  Pettigrew, 
and  the  handsome  Bob  Brandon,  felt  a  certain  reju 
venation  of  spirit  as  they  went  to  the  wedding  of  the 
couple,  who  had  once  been  these  two. 

The  old  lady  looked  full  of  life  and  vigor,  and,  de 
spite  the  circumstances,  Mr  Brandon  preserved  a 
good  deal  of  his  usual  manly  deportment.  But, 
when  in  the  course  of  the  marriage  service,  the  cler 
gyman  came  to  the  question  in  which  the  bride 
groom  was  asked  if  he  would  have  this  woman  to  be 
his  wedded  wife,  to  love  and  keep  her  for  the  rest  of 
their  lives,  the  answer,  "  I  will,"  came  forth  in  a 
feeble  tone,  which  was  not  wholly  divested  of  a  tinge 
of  despondency. 

With  the  lady  it  was  quite  otherwise.  When  the 
like  question  was  put  to  her,  she  stepped  back,  and 
in  a  loud,  clear  voice,  exclaimed :  "  Not  I !  Marry 
that  man,  there  ?  "  she  continued  in  a  higher  tone,  and 
pointing  her  finger  at  the  astounded  Mr.  Brandon. 
"  Not  for  the  world,  sir !  Before  he  was  born,  his 


The  Late  Mrs  Null.  437 

family  defrauded  and  despoiled  my  people,  and  as 
soon  as  he  took  affairs  into  his  own  hands,  he  con 
tinued  the  villainous  law  robberies  until  we  are  poor, 
and  he  is  rich  ;  and,  not  content  with  that,  he  basely 
wrecks  and  destroys  the  plans  I  had  made  for  the 
comfort  of  my  old  age,  in  order  that  his  paltry 
purposes  may  be  carried  out.  After  all  that,  does 
anybody  here  suppose  that  I  would  take  him  for  a 
husband  ?  Marry  him  !  Not  I !  "  And,  with  these 
words,  the  old  lady  turned  her  back  on  the  clergy 
man,  and  walked  rapidly  down  the  centre  aisle,  until 
she  reached  the  church  door.  There  she  stopped, 
and  turning  towards  the  stupefied  assemblage,  she 
snapped  her  bony  ringers  in  the  air,  and  exclaimed : 
"Now,  Mr  Robert  Brandon  of  Midbranch,  our  ac 
count  is  balanced." 

She  then  went  out  of  the  door,  and  took  a  street 
car  for  the  train  that  would  carry  her  to  her  home. 


THE   END. 


NEW  DOLLAR  NOVELS 

PUBLISHED  BY 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


Each  One  Volume,   121110  Clotb,  -         $1.00 


VALENTINO. 

By  WILLIAM  WALDORF  ASTOR. 

Price  reduced  to  One  Dollar. 

A  romance  founded  upon  the  history  of  the  Borgia  family  in  the  early  pait 
of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  during  the  lifetime  of  Pope  Alexander  VI. 
and  his  son  Ccesar  Borgia.  It  presents  a  remarkab  y  carefully  studied 
picture  of  those  stirring  times.  A  story  full  of  spirit  and  action. 

"  The  details  of  workmanship  are  excellent.  Mr.  Astor  writes,  appar 
ently,  out  of  a  full  mind  and  a  thorough  interest  in  his  subject." — Atlantic 
Monthly. 

"  His  manner  is  dignified  and  his  English  pleasant  and  easy." — Boston 
Advertiser. 

"It  is  well  called  a  romance,  and  no  romance  indeed  could  be  more 
effective  than  the  extraordinary  extract  from  Italian  annals  which  it  preser  es 
in  such  vivid  colors." — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

"A  signal  addition  to  the  really  superior  novels  of  the  season." — The 
Independent. 

"  One  cannot  read  far  in  '  Valentino  '  before  perceiving  that  Mr.  Astor 
has  written  a  very  creditable  romance  in  the  historical  field,  and  one  that 
would  not  have  lacked  readers  had  the  name  been  left  off  the  tit  e." — N.  Y. 
Times. 


2  SCRIBNER'S   NEW   DOLLAR    NOVELS. 

THE    LAST  MEETING. 

By  BRANDER  MATTHEWS. 

Mr.  Matthews  combines  successfully  the  old  style  of  story,  full  of  plot,  and 
the  modern  more  subtle  methods.  The  motif  is  most  original  and  clear, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  author  shows  an  uncommon  literary  dexterity. 
The  scene  is  laid  in  New  York. 

"  It  is  an  amusing  story  and  the  interest  is  carried  through  it  from 
beginning  to  end." — N.  Y.  Times. 

"A  wholesome  society  novel,  a  strikingly  dramatic  and  thrilling  tale, 
and  a  tender  love  story,  every  word  of  uhich  is  worth  reading." — Critic. 

"A  simple  but  ingenious  plot,  there  is  force  and  liveliness  to  the 
narrati\e,  and  the  pictures  of  New  York  social  life  are  done  by  one  'to  the 
manner  born.'  " — Boston  Post. 

"  A  clever  and  thoroughly  original  tale,  full  of  dramatic  situations,  and 
replete  with  some  new  and  most  expressive  Americanisms." — Literary 
World. 


WITHIN   THE    CAPES. 

By  HOWARD  PYLE, 

Author  of  "The  Merry  Adventures  of  Robin   Hood,"  etc.,  eto. 

Mr.  Pyle's  novel  is,  first  of  all,  an  ab  orbingly  interesting  one.  As  a  sea 
story,  pure  and  simple,  it  compares  well  with  the  best  of  Lla  k  Russell's 
tales,  but  it  is  much  more  ;  ihe  adventures  of  Tom  Granger,  the  hero,  are 
by  no  means  confined  to  sea  Jife.  Thourh  never  sensational,  there  are 
plenty  of  exciting  incidents  and  evi  r  a  well-de*  eloped  mystery.  The 
plot  is  of  the  good  old-fashioned  thrilling  sort  and  the  style  strong  and 
vigorous. 

"  Mr.  Pyle  proves  himself  a  master  of  nautical  technique  and  an 
accurate  observer.  .  .  .  His  style  is  good  and  fresh,  and  in  its  concise 
ness  r,  sembles  that  of  Marryatt." — N.  Y.  Journal  of  Commerce. 

"The  style  is  so  quaint,  so  felicitous,  so  quietly  humorous,  that  one 
must  smile,  wonder  and  admire." — Hartford  Post. 


SCRIBXER'S   NEW   DOLLAR    NOVELS.  3 

A   WHEEL   OF   FIRE. 

By  ARLO  BATES. 

Mr.  Bates'  novel  is  so  unusually  strong  in  its  conception  that  it  makes  a 
strong  impression  on  th:s  account  alone.  It  is  not  only  a  striking  ^tory, 
but  is  told  with  remarkable  power  and  intensity. 

"A  very  powerful  performance,  not  only  original  in  its  conception,  but 
full  of  fine  literary  art." — George  Parsons  Lathrop. 

"  One  of  the  most  fascinating  stories  of  the  year." — Chicago  Inter- Ocean. 

"A  carefully  written  story  of  much  originality  and  possessing  great 
interest." — Albany  Argus. 

"The  plot  is  clearly  conceived  and  carefully  worked  out  ;  the  story  is 
well  told  with  something  of  humor,  and  with  a  skillful  management  of 
dialogue  and  narrative." — Art  Interchange. 


ROSES    OF  SHADOW. 

By  T.  R.  SULLIVAN. 

A  most  pleasant  revival  of  a  type  of  novel  that  has  been  growing  rare.  A 
story  well  told,  with  the  charm  of  a  sincere  self-respecting  style  that 
does  not  lose  itself  in  a  search  after  effects  and  oddities,  and  with  a  strong 
and  healthy  plot,  not  frittered  away  by  perpetual  analysis. 

"  The  characters  of  the  story  have  a  remarkable  vividne.ss  and  individ 
ual  ty — every  one  of  them — which  mark  at  (me  Mr.    Sullivan's  strongest 

promise  as  a  novelist All  of  Mr.  Sullivan's  men  ar§  excellent. 

John  Musgrove,  the  grimly  pathetic  old  beau,  sometimes  reminds  us  of  a 
touch  of  Thackeray." — Cincinnati  Times-Star. 


ACROSS    THE    CHASM. 

<A  STORY  OF  NORTH  AND  SOUTH. 

A  novel  full  of  spirit  and  wit  which  takes  up  a  new  situation  in  American  life. 
The  cleverness  of  the  sketch  ng,  the  admirable  fairness  of  the  whole, 
and  a  cap  tal  plot  make  the  novel  one  of  the  brightest  of  recent  years. 

"A  story  which  will  at  once  attract  readers  by  its  original  and  striking 
qualities."— -Journal  of  Commerce,  N.  Y. 


SCR  IB  NEK'S   NEW    DOLLAR    NOVELS. 


"  Nothing  can  be  more  freshly  and  prettily  written  than  the  last  few 
pages,  when  Louis  and  Margaret  meet  and  peace  is  made.  It  is  a  little  idyl 

of  its  kind 'Across  the  Chasm' not  being  an  impalpable  story, 

but  having  a  live  young  woman  and  a  live  man  in  its  pages,  deserves  hearty 
commendation." — N.  Y.  Times. 

"  A  sensible  and  prominent  work  of  fiction.  The  style  is  clear,  strong 
and  condensed." — Baltimore  Sun. 

"An  interesting  and  attractive  story  which  we  can  heartily  commend. 
The  book  has  a  charming  and  graceful  simplicity  throughout." — Living 
Church. 

"  A  charming  book  to  lose  onesself  in  for  an  afternoon." — Independent. 


COLOR  STUDIES. 

By   T.   A.  JANVIER  (Ivory  Black). 

A  series  of  most  delightful  pictures  of  artists'  life  in  New  York  which  first 
attracted  the  attention  of  readers  to  Mr.  Janvier  as  a  writer  of  very 
notable  short  stories.  Certainly  among  stories  dealing  with  artists'  sur 
roundings  there  have  never  been  written  better  tales  than  the  e  which 
are  collected  in  this  beautiful  little  volume. 

"The  style  is  bright,  piquant  and  graphic,  and  the  plots  are  full  of 
humor  and  originality." — Boston  Traveler. 

"Original  and  clever  sketches,  covering  a  ground  hitherto  wholly 
unoccupied  in  American  literature." — -Journal  of  Commerce. 

"  These  stories  are  studied  from  nature  with  minute  observation  and 
with  a  gentle  humor,  to  which  a  tender  and  sympathetic  manner  gives  a  very 
genuine  charm." — Philadelphia  Times. 

"  Thoroughly  artistic,  both  in  the  spirit  and  actual  characteristics,  and 
is  unrivaled  in  refined  eccentricities." — Boston  Journal. 


CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS, 

PUBLISHERS, 

&  74=)  Broadway,  New  York. 


DOMESTICUS: 

A  TtALE  OF  THE  IMPERIAL  CITY. 

BY  WILLIAM  ALLEN  BUTLER, 

Author  of  "Nothing  to  IVear,"  etc. 

I  volume,  I2mo,        -  -  $1*25 

Mr.  Butler,  who  made  for  himself  a  vast  circle  of 
readers  when  he  wrote  "  Nothing  to  Wear,"  has  now  given 
them  in  this  book  a  novel  which  is  not  less  charming  or 
original  than  we  had  reason  to  expect  from  his  pen.  Con 
structed  in  unwonted  lines,  it  is  therefore  the  more  accept 
able.  It  is  the  brightest  and  most  thoroughly  enjoyable 
book  in  the  lighter  literature  that  has  been  published  for 
a  long  time. 

"  It  is  quaintly  and  delicately  conceived,  and  agreeably 

written His  satire  is  never  liars  It  or  biting ; 

on  the  contrary,  it  is  light,  ingenious,  often  graceful,  and 
invariably  just.  In  fact,  Jie  does  in  prose  Jure  what  he  so 
felicitously  accomplished  in  rhyme  thirty  years  ago  in 
' 'Nothing  to  Wear!  "—NEW  YORK  SUN. 

"  The  author  s  style  is  highly  finished.  One  might 
term  it  old-fasJiioned  in  its  exquisite  choiceness  and  pre 
cision.  In  these  respects  it  affords  a  pleasant  contrast  to 
the  horridly  written  and  slovenly  works  which  make  up  so 
large  a  share  of  modern  fiction." — NEW  YORK  JOURNAL  OF 
COMMERCE. 

For  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  sent,  post-paid,  by  the  publishers, 

CHARLES     SCRIBNER'S     SONS, 

&  74.5  Broadway,  New-York. 


STRANGE  CASE  OF  DR.  JEKYLL 
AND  MR.  HYDE. 

BY  ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON, 

Author  of  "  The  New  Arabian  Nights"  etc. 

Cloth,  Fine  Library  Edition,  gilt  top,  $1.00 ;  paper,  25  cts. 

'  'Nothing Mr.  Stevenson  has  written  yet  has  so  strongly 
impressed  us  with  the  versatility  of  his  very  original 
genius." — LONDON  TIMES. 

.    .    .  '*  With  the  exception  of  the  English  of  Mr.  Norris\ 
it  is  the  best  since  the  pen  dropped  from  the  tired  hand  of 
Thackeray"— THE  MAIL  AND  EXPRESS. 

x, 

"  //  is  a  work  of  incontestable  genius.  Nothing,  in 
my  judgment,  by  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  to  be  generous,  is  to  be 
compared  to  it ;  it  lias  all  his  weird  and  eerie  power,  but 
combined  with  a  graphic  realism  that  immensely  heiglitens 
the  effect.  I  read  it  in  a  four-wJieeled  cab  the  other  night, 
by  the  help  of  a  reading  lamp,  as  I  traveled  through  miles 
of  snowbound  streets,  quite  unconscious  of  the  external  cir 
cumstances  of  that  melancholy  journey.  What  is  worth 
mentioning,  because  otherwise  a  good  many  people  will  miss 
it,  is  that  a  noble  moral  underlies  the  marvelous  tale." — 

JAMES  PAYN  IN  THE  INDEPENDENT. 


For  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  sent,  post-paid,  by  the  publisher s\ 

CHARLES     SCRIBNER'S     SONS, 

713  &  74-5  Broadway,  New-  York. 


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